Hello!

My name is Blue Heron...yes, really. The first question I usually get is just that, "How did you get such an unusual name?" The short answer...yep, you guessed it, my parents were, and in some ways still are, hippies. Maybe one day I will publish my mother's magical short story of how the spirit of a Great Blue Heron descended on her while pregnant with me and wading through the waters of a small Oregon creek.

But for now, I would direct all those spiritually poetic types to read a book called Seven Arrows by my parents' friend Hyemeyohsts "Chuck" Storm. The book was written, at least in part, while Hyemeyohsts stayed with us (I was still unborn) at Sunbow Farm, and will give you some indication of where my parents' heads were at when they named me. You can also check out my father's books and life as a well-known organic farmer/lecturer at sunbowfarm.org. My mother has a less prominent online profile, but has continued to do amazing work as a community builder and facilitator for non-profits and government organizations at home and abroad.

This blog, however, is about me, my family and the raw experiences of living and traveling overseas.

How did I get here?
I woke up one morning and turned to my wife and said, "What happened to our dream of living abroad and seeing the world?" At that time, we were comfortably middle-class; she a school teacher, and I had just finished ten years successfully managing an account with a Fortune 500 client. We own a beautiful 100+ year old home in a great neighborhood, had a new fully-loaded Toyota Camry in our driveway, and best of all, a new baby boy. Her answer, "Life." And she was right!

Life and the comfortable routine that we found ourselves in had whittled away at our pipe dream of being world adventurers. For the next couple of weeks I thought deeply about my life in the United States, how comfortable it was to have family close by, about the great culture, food, and community Portland, Oregon, offered us. After all of that deep thinking I came up with an answer, yes! I could be happy for the rest of my life in a community like this.

So, I promptly made my way downstairs and told my wife, "I think we should find a way to live abroad!" Because while it's true that I could die a content and happy man living in the US, I also realized it would be somewhat predictable. Not to mention that adolescent voice in my head that kept shouting, "There's a whole big wide world out there with food, music, and people you will never meet!"

The die was cast. I began to look at all the ways I could work overseas, but it became clear quite quickly that if we wanted to do this now it would be my wife's career as a teacher that would take us abroad.

At that point, I had been working almost continuously since I was 10 years old (yes, child labor laws allowed paper routes). I have been successful at every job I've had since, the one exception was as a french-fry cook for one day, but that's another story. I have hired/fired and managed 15+ employees spread over 10 western states. I have negotiated countless business relationships with egos big and small.

But I have never, ever had a more rewarding, thankless, intense, tougher job than being a "stay-at-home dad". But hey! I'm a team player, so I signed up and off we went to Planet China. So began my new role as house-husband/stay-at-home dad/primary parent/soccer dad/cook/grocery shopper/errand runner...you get the point.

Let me give a quick shoutout to the "stay-at-home moms and dads." I have now walked a mile in your shoes and know how patient and selfless you have been. If your family hasn't said it lately, let me say it for them, Thank You! What you do is an honorable profession. Cheers!

After six years in Shekou, China we are now in our first year in Doha, Qatar. I currently consult in my areas of expertise, marketing and sales. I'm a freelance writer, you can see some of my "published" articles at Sapore Di Cina. While in China, I also founded a Lego Education company called Little Builders that teaches STEM and the scientific method through Lego building.

I spent my first two years in China as a "sous chef" with an Italian chef in his catering business. I was notoriously lazy in the kitchen (lacking even basic culinary skills) previous to this experience, but thanks to a very patient Roberto Battioni, I am at least more efficient with a knife. I dabbled in the Chinese language as a student at Shenzhen University studying Mandarin (yes, learning Chinese is every bit as hard as it looks).

My top priority, as it is with most parents, is raising my son. Raising a child internationally has it's own challenges, and even it's own label, "third culture kid." In the last year our son was diagnosed with ADHD. As I learn about more this neurological disorder I hope to share my experiences as a way to pay it forward.

I hope you enjoy my tales and posts about living, parenting, and traveling abroad.