Gunnar Larson is a world traveler and a member of the BlogAbroad.com team.

Later this week I will visit my seventeenth country. I now have toured Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, North America, and later this month, I will start the big tour of Europe.

I have interviewed a prostitute in Vietnam, off the coast of South Africa I interviewed a woman who has sailed around the world nineteen times, I interviewed a Masai Warrior while on safari in Kenya, I reported from a castle in North Cyprus, and the list goes on, and will continue throughout Europe.

When someone says “Salvador, Brazil” my mind swirls with the feeling, smells, and memories. Cape Town, Sydney, it all comes back to me. I try to talk about my experiences with my friends, but they roll their eyes. “Yeah well it must be nice,” “Yeah you sure do get around,” “Man you are so lucky.”

I have not been on a pleasure cruise, even though it has sure been phenomenal. I have set out to travel to learn things and to give back to the world. Sure, you can learn about orexias in a lecture hall in the United States, but why not actually visit South America and see women wearing the color necklaces of their orexia. I heard of apartheid while studying in the United States, but actually being in South Africa and seeing the success since the abolishment of the system was amazing.

When I flew from Sydney to the Gold Coast, I had a taxi driver who wanted to talk a lot. He started asking me questions, and said, “Man, you have been around.” I knew where this was going, or so I thought. “So buddy, you probably know like I do that the world is [messed] up, right?”

The world is a bit “messed” up. I never knew the injustices of politics or how other people live. I want to tell the stories of people in the world, to help others realize what the great world has to offer.

When I get back to the United States in May, I will have visited at least 28 countries. There are so many memories, so many things I have learned that I could not have learned in the United States, so many experiences. Now, what the heck do I do with them all? That is the major question lately. I cannot just sit and stand idle now; all of this travel would be a failure if I did not do something with it.

I have been reporting about the situation in each country. Sometimes my stories are used, sometimes not. I am told that I should go work for a non-profit organization, where I would basically sit around with colleagues and complain about the world’s onslaught of problems and ask for money from foundations to try to fix it, really knowing that our efforts, even if well intentioned, are not going to make a dent in the problems the world faces. People who are important believe that my travels have put me into a class of a liberal worldly academic who is perceived as a stick in the mud because of his experiences. Maybe it is my crazy youth, but the more I travel, the more energized I get, and sitting and complaining about the world’s problems just won’t do for me.

I am because you are. We are all interrelated. This world is a small place, and no matter if you are in Caldwell, Idaho, or Paris, France, there are amazing people, and astonishing stories. How will this help with the world’s problems?

When people learn about one another, they realize that they are not so much different. Their stereotypes diminish. Education is the key. Learning about one another and knowing what we have in common is the start to helping ease problems in my opinion.

In May I will be in New York again. I hope my plans work out so that I can begin giving back.

Until then, I continue to travel and learn more.