Jeff Greenwald
Encyclopedia
Biography
On Jeff Greenwald's first trip to Asia in 1979, rather than following the typical tourist's trail, he designed urban playgrounds for UNICEF and the Nepal Children’s Organization. Arriving several months later in Thailand during the Khmer civil war, he served as a volunteer water engineer at Khao-I-Dang—-the largest of the Cambodian refugee camps. These early travel experiences shaped his career and philosophy about travel. In the Spring of 1983, Greenwald was awarded a journalism fellowship by the Rotary International Foundation, and departed for a second trip to Asia. Over the course of 16 months he lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and made excursions to the Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Japan, Java, and Bali. His articles about those trips appeared in the magazines GEO and Islands. It was around this time that he began writing "Mr. Raja¹s Neighborhood: Letters from Nepal." Four years later, his travels in Nepal and Tibet would inspire "Shopping for Buddhas," first published by Harper and Row in 1990. A later edition, published in the Lonely Planet "Journeys" series, won theLowell Thomas Gold Award for Best Travel Book of 1996.
As he circled the globe writing The Size of the World in 1993-1994, Greenwald posted dispatches to GNN, the Global Network Navigator, describing his journey. Consequently, he is hailed by several writers as an internet pioneer for creating the first international blog (before the term was coined).
In 2003, Jeff Greenwald co-founded the organization Ethical Traveler, of which he serves as the Executive Director. A project of the Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute
The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations...
, Ethical Traveler is a global community dedicated to exploring the ambassadorial potential of world travel, as outlined in Greenwald's "Thirteen Tips for the Accidental Ambassador."
Using his many travel adventures as material, Greenwald also developed a one-man show in 2003 called "Strange Travel Suggestions." The show, which premiered at The Marsh in San Francisco, is an improvised monologue whose content is determined by the spin of a on-stage "wheel of fortune".
Thanks to a casting director who was a fan of his writing, Greenwald made a cameo appearance as “Security Guard” on the "Jail" episode of the NBC sitcom News Radio. NewsRadio season 5
NewsRadio season 5
This is a detailed list of NewsRadio episodes from the fifth and final season. See List of NewsRadio episodes for a complete list of all NewsRadio episodes.-Episodes:...
Quotes
"For anyone with an appetite for fantastic legends, a thirst for color (especially red), and a general craving for utter theological wonder, Nepal is a case study in all-you-can-eat.""We go where we need to go, then try to figure out what we're doing there.”
"Every time I set off on a journey, I feel like God has thrown me the keys to her car."