Simi A.

To start, I am a third-year medical student (studying to be a doctor), who has lived in the United States her entire life (pretty much all over the country). But studying to become a doctor hasn't killed my sense of wonder; if anything, it's only made my desire to travel even stronger. I'm privileged to have traveled to about eight countries in my life, mostly for tourism. But as I'm gearing up for yet another trip outside the country, I've realized that I want something different. It is nice, wonderful even, to go to a country and see all the sights that the tour guides tell you to see--most "tourist sites" deserve to be full of tourists, because they're impressive. But what is even more wonderful is meeting and connecting with people who live in the places you're going to. Meeting locals is like unlocking the next level of a video game called travel. You have to work harder in order to do it, but the rewards are so much more: you get a deeper look into the place where you are, and you really begin to understand the way people live in the place you're going to. Ultimately, travel is simply going to places where other people live, anyway. So it makes sense that the best part of travel is connecting with people who live in the place you're going. Ultimately, I just want to connect with people. Before I become philosophical for too long, here's more information about me: -As said, I am a third-year medical student, and I'm studying to become a doctor. (People always ask if I'm going to be a nurse...) -I'm from the US. I was born in Chicago, in the middle of the US. I moved to Boston (east coast) for university when I was 18. After graduating from university, I went to medical school at age 23, and I now live in Los Angeles, California. -Ethnically speaking, I'm Nigerian, so I have plenty to teach you about Nigerian culture if you want. -I enjoy watching sports, mainly football. I follow the Premier League most commonly, but I also follow the major leagues in Germany, France, and Spain (in that order). But my absolute favorite tournament is the World Cup. I love that the World Cup brings nations together from all around the world to play the beautiful game. -I also play video games. Weird to say for a traveler, but I do! My favorite game is Super Smash Brothers. -I may vlog at least part of the trip, but I'll never film you or your place without permission.