My guest is Sasha (pt.1 of 2)
- About Sasha:
Sasha was born in the Russian capital of Moscow. Moscow is named for the river that runs through it, the Moskva. She migrated to the U.S. with her mother and brother when she was young. They settled in the New Jersey area where she attended high school.
She is an avid snowboarder and her love of the activity is what first propelled her to start making small trips from New Jersey, north to places like Vermont and Canada. After being freed from slavery (finished high school), she drove alone across the U.S. to continue snowboarding in western Canada.
Once she left New Jersey at age 18 and made that fateful trip, she knew she would never go back. She left it all behind, with nothing more than her car, a few personal items, and a lust for life and adventure that would ultimately compel her to travel the world for the next 13 (and counting) years of her life.
When Sasha was younger and traveled with her family, she witnessed lots of hardships, such as kids living on the streets and begging for money, or begging tourists to buy bananas and souvenirs. She noticed homeless people everywhere, from Moscow to New York, to almost any place she visited.
In 2010, she (accidentally) got into a course called “International and Global Studies” at the University of Sydney in Australia. This degree spanned across many different faculties in order to give her an understanding of the global and international world that we live in. She studied everything from the global economy, to global environmental issues, global politics, international conflicts, international business, laws and agreements, international cultural dilemmas, indigenous land rights, environmental disasters, deforestation, climate change, sustainability, sustainable development and more.
After taking the course “International and Global Studies” and graduating from the University of Sydney in Australia, what she learned from it basically was more of how fucked up the world is, but this time from an institutional point of view. How different people and organizations were trying to solve big global problems today, and how none of it was working.
Sasha has traveled the world extensively purely by desire, determination, courage, and a minimalist lifestyle. She understands that we are all one, and the entire Earth is our home. That understanding, and realization that most of the world's problems stem from the same cause, lead her to work with The Venus Project as a POC (Point Of Contact) for several years. While still volunteering at TVP, she learned about the TROM project and began working with them, and continues to to this day.
While traveling the world she saw the contrast and similarities between different tribes (countries). Such as what's believed to be right and wrong, what a man or woman should or shouldn't do, Etc... and witnessed firsthand how the majority of people buy into and believe preconceived dogmas. Never questioning or daring to step out of line with the accepted thoughts and beliefs, and just accept that their lives are ordinary and routine.
On Sasha's personal website, she writes stories, tips, and advice about her travels and includes pictures of some of the grander sites and places she's visited
She is in the process of writing a book that will detail her journey and adventures around the world, as well as insights to her lifestyle and perspective of the world. It will include many travel stories as well as her struggles with money, visas, laws, society and more. She post updates and excerpts from the book on her FB Page.
~ Show Notes:
- Sasha's personal travels / beginnings
- Sasha's experience with the Venus Project
- TVP facts & questions
- truckin' / travel stories
- Build it, and they will come?
~ Sasha's links:
-
www.bigworldsmallsasha.com
(Sasha's website / blog)
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www.bigworldsmallsasha.com/2019/09/13/why-i-left-the-venus-project
(Sasha's experience w/TVP)
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www.facebook.com/bigworldsmallsasha
(Sasha's FB page)
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www.tromsite.com/books/#dflip-df_6562/1/
(Origin of Most Problems book)
