In 2017 I went on a year-long hitchhiking adventure. I quickly got bored of asking "do you have a family, what are your children like, how's the weather", so would usually start a conversation by saying "tell me about your country - what's it like living here?" Most of the time, people would respond by telling me about the political issues in their country, or of the corruption, bad leaders, good leaders, and everything in between. Particularly when travelling through the former countries of Yugoslavia, I was hearing the same human tales of suffering during the fall of Yugoslavia, but with different villains and heroes depending on which country I was in. This set off a chain of events in my life. I unenrolled myself from a law degree and decided to devote my education to studying politics, diplomacy, and sustainable development.
A few years later I ended up working for the Costa Rican government on the anniversary of 70 years of the abolition of the military. I was fascinated. Could a country really ensure its security without a military?
Today there are 26 countries without sovereign militaries, 11 of them being Pacific Island Nations. Aside from travel writing, I research on the concepts of non-militarisation and peace, especially in the Pacific region. Here are some of my highlights:
