Not your typical travelogue. Instead, this book is organized by the nature of the experience the author had while traveling.

I am an avid world traveler. I have lived in a variety of international locations, and I have both studied abroad and taught abroad. I have backpacked, camped out, stayed at youth hostels, and now, in my senior years, I have stayed in topnotch hotels and resorts. I have flown standby, and I have flown first class. I have hitchhiked, and I have taken public transportation, slow trains, fast trains, boats, and ships. I cherish my memories. They are solid, like granite, and they remind me of what I have been through and of how they have made me into a better person. World travel has taken me out of my comfort zone, has freed me from ever living a cocoon like life, has taught me to reach for the stars, and has provided me with an education that far surpasses any level that I could have achieved in any other way.

“Thank you, world!” I can shout from the greatest heights and from the lowest depths, from Germany’s Zugspitze to California’s Death Valley. I’ve been in the burning sands of Saudi Arabia, and I have been in the Arctic freeze of Lapland in Finland. I’ve been there and I am a better person for it.

Everything and everybody in this book is factual. All details are true to life. This is exactly how it all happened. It is as if yesterday is today, and, in a way, that’s the way it really is. These glimpses of my world journeys are poignant, funny, comical, inspiring, and sometimes frightening, but one thing is for certain: every word details precisely and truthfully how it all happened. $0.99 on Kindle.

The book captures the author’s backpacking trips from 2014 to 2022 in different countries, such as the U.S., India, Thailand, Gulf Countries, and various parts of Europe, from Lisbon to Saratov. About a third of the stories in the book recount how the author himself hosted travelers, both in Penza – his native Russian province – and in Berlin, a city in which the author found a sense of home.

The focus of the book is on people and their cultural diversity. Ultimately, the reader will learn from this book not only how travelers interact with their hosts and how both hosting and surfing work – but also the endless permutations, from camaraderie to conflict. $0.99 on Kindle.

What if you risked everything to follow your dreams… and they didn’t quite come true? Would you regret having tried at all? How about if those choices led to a life full of freedom and adventure? This is the story of one man whose 25 years as a struggling writer meant learning to accept near constant rejection while at the same time traveling the world on a shoestring and reveling in all of the wonders that life has to offer. It is a tale of love and loss, hopes and aspirations, and ultimately the realization that true happiness comes not from succeeding on someone else’s terms, but in the ability to redefine success on one’s own.

“Memoirs of a Starving Artist” follows the author on a lifelong journey from Australia to Tahiti, Ireland to Estonia to Budapest and beyond. It is an inside look at what it means to be an ex-pat American writer in the era of the ebook revolution.