Sam Son - Oakland, Calif., USAI first met Sam through a Couchsurfer I was going to grab a drink with. She had brought along one of her school friends and another Couchsurfer. It turned out that Sam was the other guy. We became friends pretty fast. I intended to only stay in Moldova for three days. It turned into seven days because Sam invited me to stay at his apartment for free. I couldn't say no to that. We would hit the bars every night looking to meet new people. Sam is one of the most fun individuals I have met on my trip. All he wants to do is live life to fullest and to include as many girls in his adventures as possible. ~ Dan Hellinger
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What improvements do you want to see the USA make in the next 5 years?
"There are many issues the US should address and improve, domestically and internationally. Today marks my 202 days traveling, and majority of that in Europe. Just about every European countries have free education in some way. Where students do not have to take out loans to pay for their college. On a domestic level, the US should have a free education system such as Germany, Romania, Hungary, and so forth. Most colleagues I know who are living in the US are stuck working their butt off to pay off students loans, bills, and just to make ends meet. Secondly, the average vacation time for Americans is two weeks off! That's nothing! People spend their entire lives working and do not get enough paid time off from work. In France, people get at least a month off! We can really learn a lot from how things are done in other countries. Another issue, demilitarizing police powers or figuring out a way retrain officers how to better handle situations. I understand police needs to show the idea of 'showing force' but it shouldn't be to the point civilians don't feel safe whenever they encounter the police. Anywhere else around the world isn't like this. No one should fear bad enough they should take safe pre-cautious such as video taping. Selling cigarettes on the street (Eric Gardner), or stealing candy should not result in hurting the individual because officers are required to subdue or “take control of the situation.” It’s better off to let them go on petty crimes. But this issue is far bigger than this one scenario. Lastly, fixing our criminal justice system. Along with the prison system. Did you know the United States has the largest number of incarcerated per capita? Non-violent criminals should not be locked up and there should be other ways to use them to serve the community. Again, there are many improvements for the US."
What aspirations do you want to achieve in life? Is money or the power of knowledge more crucial to you?"At the moment, being a wanderlust is important to me because I get to see the world. Money is important on certain aspects but it doesn't necessary always make me happy. People do need money to travel, but there are efficient ways to do it. I like traveling in less expensive countries such as Eastern Europe because it allows me to stretch out my money to the max.
Traveling abroad continues to open my eyes as it soaks me with new knowledge, experiences, cultures, languages, and simply understanding different ways of life. It’s going to help me grow as an individual and become a better person. I think people should be able to travel more often. Maybe if may even give new perspectives for Americans, or any traveler." |
Sam's Travel Story"I don't even know where to begin with this one. I’ve had so many stories to share. Most of them at private level. But mostly drunk stories…like with my phone dead, drunk and lost, trying to navigate through dark alleys, and off beaten paths to find my way back to my hostel or home. There has never been a dull moment. It’s addictive and I feel like I never want to go back home. Life is simple, cheap, and intriguing here. I’ve had a lot of hook up stories that’s better told at personal level. Hence, buying a plane ticket to meet with a girl I’ve met at a boat party, and she ended up turning to be a psycho. I had to pack up all my stuff from her house and walked three miles in the rain to get to the nearest train station. It was epic. Yes many many more stories. Or, the ATM machine eating up my debit card in Budapest. It was my only bank card and was screwed because I had to pay for food, lodging, and other things. It would take at least two weeks to have my bank mail me a new card. The next day I went to the Russian bank, but the teller refused to give it back to me even though I had all the identifications to prove it was mine. The bank claimed that it is “company policy” and they need to mail it to their corporate office for investigation. Which I thought was bullshit. They had no right to hold my card and claim that it was company policy. I said it was theft and illegal business practices so I demanded to talk to the manager. It was just my luck that the lady I was dealing with, already had taken my debit card out of the ATM machine and was getting ready to mail it. I seen it on her desk. After she got up to talk to her manager, I snatched the card off her desk and walked away. With fire explosions in the back. I really felt like a thug at that very moment." ~ Sam Son
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