Brian Gilmer
Lots of new updates to the "Countries Visited" check out the pictures and write up for Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Tasmania, Ukraine and others.
Hello,
Well as you might know it has been a while since I updated my webpage. I thought I should get around to doing it while I had some time and before I started my new adventure. I have been doing a lot of things since leaving PayPal in June of ’06. Primarily I have been traveling a lot. As many people know I was afflicted with Wanderlust and I love to travel, much of the time on my own. I like to explore places that might be a bit off the beaten path and unique. I spend part of my time in Prague relaxing and hanging out with friends but I have also traveled to some exotic locations such as Lhasa, Tibet and Siem Reap, Cambodia. You can read more about my travels in the “Countries Visited” section.
I have also enjoyed riding a motorcycle in some exotic locations like Africa, China, Thailand and Laos. This gave me the opportunity to see small towns that tourist would never visit and to experience the local foods, cultures and people in the best ways possible. Motorcycling in countries where English is not the primary language and signs are undecipherable can be a bit daunting but the rewards make up for any inconveniences.
In addition to traveling I have been doing some wood work and have made a couple really nice boxes including one humidor to store some of my cigars and pipe tobacco
About Me
Well I am a person of many interests. I love to read and relax at home but I also love to get out and see things. I like doing Marathons and Half Marathons with my friends and I really love to travel. I have fallen in love with many places in my life but never with the right person. We will see if I can rectify that before I get to old :-)
Give me a good book and I can be as happy as a clam. I can spend hours sitting on the couch reading a good science fiction, mystery or adventure book. I have lost track of time on numerous occasions because the book I was reading drew me in and would not let me go. I consider myself to be a pretty voracious reader and I am always looking for new books and genre to read. I started off reading pure science fiction like Clarke, Heinlein and Asimov and then branched out to just about all Sci-Fi and Fantasy as well as mysteries, crime, some biographies, etc.
I got into Marathons several years ago with the folks at Team in Training. In the Spring of 2000 I trained for and endured the San Diego marathon. While the marathon was pretty tough, the people made the experience so fun that I had to go back. I was hooked.
Peace Corps Armenia
Those that know me well were really not that surprised, but some people were when I told them that I was joining the Peace Corps. The process started in late 2006 when I was sitting in a little Kafarna in the park with Keith. We had gotten together in the afternoon for a beer and ended up sitting in the little bar and drinking about 10 half liter beers. Around about beer #3 we started talking about the Peace Corps. Keith had been in Slovakia about 4 years earlier and he was telling me about his experience and how good of a time he had. It got me thinking so I decided to apply a few weeks later. That started a very long process. After the application I was sent more information to fill out then while in Australia I had a phone conversation/interview with a recruiter in Oakland. This led to my “nomination”.
After being nominated I had to start the medical and dental testing. This was a long and very extensive process that took several months. In addition to all sorts of tests I had to have done I had to get letters from both my doctors saying I was healthy enough to do this. A couple of my tests were outside of “Normal” by a hair and my doctor had to write a letter explaining that I did not have a medical condition and that the results were fine. My doctor commented on how picky they were about everything. I also had to see the dentist, which I hadn’t done in about 5 years.