CURRENT MISSION

Building web & mobile applications for travel. See, learn, listen and experience.

ABOUT ME
2019: Back in Vancouver. After 3 months in Melbourne & 3 weeks in Paris.

2015: Barcelona. Croatia for May-June. Completing Android programming specialization on Coursera.

2014: USA trip: South West - Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Antelope Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley... DONE! Now heading cross country by Amtrak train from San Francisco to New York via Grand Junction, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Providence, and Boston.

2013: Reconnecting with Vancouver
http://on.fb.me/Ynccel
http://on.fb.me/Yy5V1N

Dec '12: Currently falling in love with New York. http://on.fb.me/TzwOe4

Sept '12: Spending time in Montreal, getting to know the city, the people, the food, cafes, bars, culture, festivals and taking photos: http://BenLam.500px.com/

Aug '12: Left my corporate job (Web producer at Blizzard Entertainment, the video games company) to focus on travel writing and photography. I want to return to living in cities, meeting random people, exploring neighbourhoods, learning languages... basically experiencing life again.

Oct '11: moved to Costa Mesa, CA from Paris, continuing to work with Blizzard Entertainment as a Web Producer.

Sept '06: Living in 2nd, 20th arrondissements of Paris, then Vancouver, then Fontainebleau, then Puteux (La Défense). This all started after meeting a fantastic French girl in Toronto and deciding to escape the busy tech world to chase after her in Paris and led to the best years of my life. Experiencing busy Paris life mixed with quiet countryside near Fontainebleau and working with a super international group of people changed my outlook on life.

I'm often asked where I want to settle down. I don't think I ever want to. There's so much to see, so many people to meet and things to learn that I want to keep moving every few years. Hope to meet you on my travels.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is incredibly short. I need to experience as much as I can with the time that I have. I take to heart Jobs' talk at Stanford. Every morning he asks a question: If today were the last day of my life, would I do what I'm about to do today? And when the answer is "No" too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. I keep changing so that I can learn an experience new things.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love participating in events that Couchsurfers setup in their cities. It's a great way to get to know people and places in the city. I like to give back by showing visitors my favorite things about a city: food, drink, coffee, landmarks, parks, cultural activities, interesting/beautiful architecture, music venues, hangouts, clubs, bars, restaurants, etc.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've met awesome, diverse people from across the globe through Couchsurfing events. It's amazing how we can connect with people from such different backgrounds and experiences and all have a great time together.

Interests

Culinaria, coffee, wine, music, movies, non-fiction books, photography (portrait, candid, HDR architecture, lighting), web tech, TED, video games, cocktails, and learning in general.

• culture
• writing
• books
• architecture
• photography
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• cocktails
• coffee
• drinking
• clubbing
• technology
• movies
• video games
• traveling
• music
• languages
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Most recently: French flicks from Cédric Klapisch (Auberge Espagnol, Les Poupées Russes, Paris), The Way. Less recently, but on my list of awesomeness: Fight Club, V for Vendetta, The Game, The Social Network, The Dark Knight, The Matrix, Chasing Amy, Bladerunner, The Manchurian Candidate, Before Sunrise/Sunset. Books:
The Happiness Hypothesis, Freakonomics, The Assault on Reason, Thinking Fast & Slow, Predictably Irrational, 100 Startup. Music: Almost anything: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Grimes, Miike Snow, Dvorák, Deadmau5, Andy McKee, Beatles, Hybrid, Pantha du Prince, Balmorhea.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Leaving the rat race and chasing after a dream in a foreign country, not speaking the language and it turning into the best experience thus far.

Teach, Learn, Share

Web technology. Photography. Games. Wine. Cooking.

Countries I’ve Visited

Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Spain, United States

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