I'm Justin Breen, a writer, traveler, philosopher, and student of life, people, and happiness. I like to go to countries that interest me for three months at a time, find a job, find a place to stay, learn the language, make friends, take hitchhiking trips around the area, and have fun. I take as little as a few hundred dollars with me on each trip, in an attempt to prove that one doesn't need to be privileged to follow dreams. It took me fifteen years of traveling to realize my goal of doing 25 three-month stays (which I call, "thrumps") in 25 countries. I realized this goal when I visited Ethiopia in 2014. I hope the knowledge I've acquired will one day contribute to making people's lives better and their life choices easier, and their communities happier.
Feel free to contact me by e-mail: johnnywittbaseball@gmail.com. Click here to see the books I have for sale. Click here for information on the programs and presentations I offer.
And here are my stories ...
519. Richele and one of the Johnnies exchange vows!
520. a connection?
521. the hitchhikers of summer
522. small fish in a big Turkey 523. Modern Oddyseus' travels continue
524. a toast, to the Kobaladzes 525. an old and distant Europe 526. Peace March in Kurdistan 527. what I like to do with my girlfriends 528. another break, for Soviet nostalgia 529. grandma nostalgia
530. the region's best nightlife? 531. genocide 532. a man about a donkey 533. camel guy 534. resumption of the thrump 535. equipment and stats 536. working for The Goke 537. snowy day on the Silk Road 538. or no genocide? 539. gule gule, Justin"THE REST OF THE WORLD 2013-14"
540. tamam
541. from Asia through Europe to Africa
542. Romans in North Africa 543. I came for a donkey, I stayed for the people 544. (untitled) 545. a visit to the mosque 546. an update of characters 547. the fish in the sea (a fable) 548. travels with a kashabiya - the intro 549. oasis 550. the "oasis" conclusion 551. Sahara 552. Semia gets married to Hatem ... for a week straight! 553. Islam's fourth holiest city 554. how to kiss a Muslim 555. Sminja in my heart 556. last words from Italy
557. Peace Grove 558. make your money in tiny countries
559. the (final) adventure begins! 560. the wildest, most dangerous trips
561. the Suri 562. in search of safety 563. in search of enjoyment 564. Ethiopian dances 565. further wanderings of the Modern O. 566. second effort 567. your Surichen dictionary 568. feels like home 569. the remote excites me 570. the remote excites me - part II 571. man vs. village 572. the best for last? 573. in search of community
574. final results 575. the world's best 576. final philosophies 577. quotes 578. "RR" quotes 579. J.Breen philosophy
580. where I ended up 581. thanks 481. "Day of Blindness" 482. basketball, the Musil Brothers, and Jana
483. April weather
484. "The Day I Try to Get a Kiss", in Barcelona 485. the N-420 (Tarragona to Cuenca) 486. the marshes
487. first encounters with North Africans 488. "The Day I Try to Get a Kiss", in Fez 489. Hamid puts a ring on Hadeejah's finger! 490. in the land of Berbers 491. free like an eagle? not quite 492. free like a camel
493. the rest of the Sahara"WESTERN AFRICA 2012"
494. toubab in a baobab 495. tam-tams 496. battle at the port of injustice 497. Senegal Top 5 498. history and a cemetary
499. arrival in the archipelago! 500. rainy season thrump 501. what to do with a foot infection? 502. more suffering 503. the other side of the island 504. becoming Bijago 505. communal by nature 506. travels to remote ports - part I
507. travels to remote ports - part II 508. more islands 509. harmonious people 510. thoughts on Africa 511. my Italian boss 512. the passing of an African revolutionary 513. return to Rabat 514. students full of questions 515. "The Day I Try to Get a Kiss", in Rabat 516. the rooftop terrace 517. I miss ... (a poem) 518. bislama
444. intro to Africa 445. South African food and a national park
446. tent-dweller's independence 447. the anarchist's poem 448. blackberries 449. man vs. canyon 450. a believer in Tlhatlhamacholo 451. new logic 452. a king's promise, a cheating bird, and a nasty mbulu 453. adopted by orphans 454. a hawker in the Ministry of Health 455. big trip (around the mountain kingdom)"SOUTHERN AFRICA 2011"
456. imprisoned ... 457. ... but only for one day 458. an otherwise perfect thrump ends
459. Julie shows me Swaziland - part I 460. Swaziland - part II 461. failed robbery attempt 462. lovely Zulus, and exciting animals 463. travels in a rainbow nation 464. shark cage dive 465. South African cool 466. from Bud's to babotie
467. the next row of countries 468. African problems, a hitchhiker's solutions, and ... the desert
469. why I loved Colombia 470. almost Angola
471. Joseph and the pigs he carried 472. getting around, off the main road
473. African camera debacle 474. attacking a commanding officer 475. beaten by warthogs 476. I love traveling! (a poem) 477. out of Tanzania 478. my last act of defiance 479. Africa the Lion tries to eat me whole 480. the conclusion (for now ...) 416. G.R.O.S.S.
417. five crowded days
418. a new setting (Ludong University in Yantai) 419. the new teacher's first day 420. the students 421. more tastes of China 422. I'd rather be up in the air 423. butterfly kites and vegetable dragons 424. childhood friend"CHINA 2010"
425. the girl from Hainan 426. peace in the garden 427. an English name for Ya Hui 428. good-bye, students (all 2000) 429. Justin travels China - part I 430. part II (Mongolian horses and the Great Wall) 431. part III (Taoist mountain) 432. IV (Buddhas in caves) 433. V (Tibet) 434. Zhongguo
435. part VI (Tibet Top 5) 436. (Southern Cloud) the end of China
437. the law of the Lao 438. the fate of the guerrilla fugitive 439. village meals 440. love, deadly like a motorcycle 441. the conclusion of "love, deadly" 442. better you in Laos than a louse on you
443. hitting the wall 406. small town Casanova's, and good-bye party
407. dream with professor Amanda 408. let the language excite you
"IRAN??? 2009"
409. whilst Matthias' knowledge of music impresses you
410. but conservative Hungary awaits
411. and Serbian guys want to be your friends 412. during your stay in their capital
413. not as calming as a Black Mountain lake
414. next to Europe's leftout 415. your last stop before going home
384. happy people? the sequel.
385. the things I saw (going to Turkey) 386. the people who picked me up 387. the park in Istanbul 388. a day at the kontor 389. more than sightseeing
390. in limbo, on a hot, dry island
"ISRAEL 2008"
391. when a good kibbutz goes bad 392. religious, mountain town 393. jackals and cactusfruit 394. lessons on thrumping, from Israel 395. encounters with religious people 396. Yom Kippur and other holidays 397. from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea 398. you say you sell stories??
399. war in the Middle East 400. a job and a place to stay, at last 401. Israeli society and Judaism 402. Judaism, on masturbation 403. a good ending 404. caring girl 405. wuss out
read Lauren Smith's article on the Modern Oddyseus
331. Acts of Spontaneous Ecstasy 332. the port 333. what not to do when you visit Spain 334. food, football, and laughter 335. revolution 336. focus of trip: meditation 337. Monday evening samadhi 338. not so fast! 339. Marcel Pagnol 340. slow dancing 341. give me an egg, painted 342. part at the "hut" 343. a new tradition, for Vanesa's baby 344. Bratri Orffove, in concert
345. see not the sky
346. out all night
347. the thrill of the wild unknown
"SIBERIA 2007"
348. young friends, an old home 349. where I left off last year 350. Alaskan architecture 351. looking for work in a new town (a manual) 352. the warm arms of bandits 353. watery air on fire 354. Bare-Top Mountain 355. A.S.E.: climb a tree 356. the Altaians 357. how to survive the summer, homeless, in Russia 358. in concert, DDT! 359. Kumir Canyon, and how I got into the concert 360. vlyublyonyy 361. sick in the city 362. A.S.E.: teach (part I) 363. A.S.E.: teach (part II) 364. winter has come 365. last night a rock bar saved my life
366. samadhi while posing for artists 367. scary house 368. two scary DDT songs 369. a walk around Tomsk 370. a second and a third walk around Tomsk 371. two decades after perestroika - part I 372. two decades after perestroika - part II 373. A.S.E.: ice skate 374. Enjoy English Songs 375. the Moscovian kadril and other fun dances 376. a New Year, ... 377. ... and new hope 378. winter travels to the Black Sea 379. illegal entry # 3 (Ukraine to Russia) 380. illegal customs clearances # 4 and # 5 (Russia to Russia) 381. DOCUMENT by Justin Breen 382. illegal entry # 6 (Russia to Ukraine) 383. happy people
272. eliminate the oikoyeneia 273. but, what about the summer? 274. my individual dreams 275. squatting with anarchists 276. an intern for Epi? 277. sleeping with Pepa on trams 278. from visiting the Czech ... 279. ... to teaching in the Czech 280. tall Czech beers and women 281. sunlight, silence, and sincerity 282. make a story in class 283. Krnov je raj 284. waltz, jive, and the cha-cha-cha 285. these are the months of the year ...
"EAST EUROPE 2005-06"
286. the totally unexciting story about Poland 287. St. Mikolas's Day 288. what I did on Wednesday - part I 289. Wednesday - part II 290. positives and negatives of teaching English 291. Kolinovsky Christmas 292. snowboarding with the devil 293. cold traveler, smiling New Year 294. may your every story end in dancing (the ball!) 295. third time a charm? 296. olive orchard life and philosophy 297. give me a Euro, I'll tell you a story 298. solve your own problems, but call your friends too 299. Viki's phosphorescence, in a land of tiring challenges 300. brahmacharya
301. Carnaval in Patra 302. a chronological account of sky-tall events 303. the anti-monogamy poem 304. outburst
305. what I was talking about last time 306. Toblerone, bratwurst, and flubble 307. police, teachers, and the Vatican 308. small, perfect 309. (there should be) no pushing in love 310. snowy hike, Slovakia 311. Dacia, Romanian automobile 312. everything's interesting 313. a little about my trip to Romania 314. traveling light 315. one more list for the hungry
316. in love immediately 317. Soviet town 318. you kiss like my grandma 319. guys of the town 320. afternoon of departure
"RUSSIA 2006"
321. first day of the trip 322. the decision 323. Igor and I 324. how I entered Russia illegally 325. the spy comes back
326. accomplishments and observations 327. philosophies 328. Julian's positive energy 329. maintaining youth 330. Prague, at 5 a.m.
222. Iceland's halfway 'cross the pond
223. if you're insane, go to the hooligans 224. rules and signs 225. animals punching people 226. back to friends 227. Elaine and I hitchhike west 228. rugged, inspiring Montana
229. Swedes love bicycles and snus 230. my two jobs
231. oops, I'm in Finland 232. Arctic excursion 233. my Iranian boss 234. party at Jojo's 235. first Swedish snorkel 236. surstromming, yuk! 237. Swedish Hitchhiking Scavenger Hunt
"EUROPE 2004-05"
238. cows in the forest 239. Sara Lidman 240. Sweden, on religion 241. coming and going (the last "Hej da") 242. Umea to Spain - part I
243. part II (J'aime les French!)
244. part III (le vindange)
245. part IV (priority change?) 246. the last part 247. the Pyrenees 248. vikings and hooligans 249. negocio serio
250. WWOOFing in Portugal 251. French food
252. we come for ski work 253. Merry Christmas from the slopes 254. I'm making a killing in the supermarket
255. don't get caught drinking beer on the job 256. The Little Prince 257. Klara and Martina (my friends) 258. magic in the mountains 259. a blurry night out in Andorra 260. work-mates 261. off-piste 262. finally, culture in Andorra 263. "Bonne continuacion" ('round the globe) 264. a beautiful girl laughs with you 265. don't change, France!
266. crossing the Balkans ...
267. ... I don't need a visa 268. the kid 269. just shut up and talk 270. rich culture 271. traveling without peace
178. Pancho and Corinne tie the knot! 179. Canada, here we thumb 180. Johnny and Adam's first day of hitching 181. come on in to hospitable Maine
182. "Fu**in' right!" (we're going across Canada) 183. farming Dr. Jim's apples 184. bailing hay (human tetris) 185. apple-farming Dr. Jim 186. WWOOFer boys go to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Coast 187. Oak Island mystery 188. the vegetarian meets the chicken-killer 189. travelling Argentinian-style 190. French people, Acadian coast 191. Acadia to Gaspe
"CANADA 2003"
192. atop Permission Hill 193. Diane eats her vegetables 194. Quebecois son fu! 195. drinking on a Montreal door-step 196. Adam turns 22! 197. hitchhiker hell (it's a long ways across) 198. migrants who specialize in the raking of pine cones 199. out in the Prairies 200. "The Ride" (the best part across Canada) 201. thunderstorm in the hills 202. the "Johnny's" do Edmonton (Lust for Life) 203. mountains and more hook-ups 204. Canmore's "The 'Ho" 205. travelling golf ball salesman 206. Julie finally wins 207. blow up Tofino 208. "That is too cool." (we made it across) 209. Labor Day, our summer ends 210. lemon icebox cake hitching 211. Wyoming's parks on the way 212. the city that cares 213. coasting down the coast 214. my brother, the bird-brain 215. crazy rides to San Antonio 216. R and birds and R, with the fam 217. Texas dances, Texas accents 218. Little Rock rocks 219. delta blues 220. Meagan's chapter (and Allie's) 221. home for Thanksgiving
154. Argentina hitchhiker's "barbado" welcome fiesta 155. hitching to Bariloche - part II 156. "No sheep for you!" 157. it's all about the money (the $7) 158. surviving Christmas alone 159. Bariloche's best thing 160. tango lessons 161. the Peruvian girl's wits against the Mountain Lopez
"ARGENTINA 2002-03"
162. it ain't easy doing nothing
163. chilly Chiloe, Chile for snorkelling 164. nice crisis, let's have another! 165. llama encounter 166. cold-water wildlife safari 167. the city's underground
168. Uruguay life
169. put all the feijoada in the bag 170. riding in kombi's with Monica 171. don't be a Fortaleza playboy 172. forro and Jericoacoara 173. Amazon - tropical disease 174. Amazon - fish tales
175. buy now! world's best arepas 176. diary of a nice guy's losing 177. they were the best of times
124. broken hearts and deportation - part I 125. broken hearts and deportation - part II 126. "Boys, they come and they go!" (meeting my fantasy girl)
127. limin' with the Trinis, on their turf 128. hard work makes the world go round 129. my landlady wants me dead 130. test cricket heckling 131. Maracas on me 132. forging my path 133. Sailing Week in Tobago
"S. AMERICA ON $320"
134. Tobago's beauty 135. Mt. Irvine's wonder 136. Fu the Iguana Smuggler 137. more Sailing Week fun 138. Venezuelan smiles 139. Maracas baseball 140. Trinidad, it was nice to leave you 141. from rotis to arepas 142. the fiesta de los tambores 143. gem in the Andes
144. more Venezuelan smiles, and the road to Colombia
145. an American in Colombia working illegally? that's gotta be a typo ... 146. you could learn a lot from a coke-head 147. my morenita housemate - part I 148. my morenita housemate - part II 149. la lucha latina 150. "S.America on $320" abandoned 151. Venezuela, 2nd time around 152. Izac and Maria-Alejandra get hitched! 153. angel in Caracas
108. Miami to Miami in 8 hrs. 109. "Competition of the Week" program 110. nighttime crayfish hunting 111. kayak-fun noodle-river joust - part I 112. kayak-fun noodle-river joust - part II
"'COMPETITION OF THE WEEK' 2001"
113. wear the most clothes 114. street ping pong tournament 115. casino trip 116. frying pork with Michelle 117. the obese pigeon (poetry contest entry) 118. octopus love (poetry contest entry)
119. poetry contest results, and Michigan results 120. the longest shot 121. Melanie's challenge 122. Pansyckas (rrrgh!) makes me sick 123. sundae bloody Sunday
81. Carnaval in Olinda - part I 82. Carnaval in Olinda - part II 83. long walks on the beach 84. the miseries of travel 85. adventure in Pernambuco? 86. a week in the mato 87. a kid in the sand 88. how not to be "esperto" 89. hitchin' to Souza
"BRAZIL 2001"
90. gone fishing 91. dinosaurs! 92. the Suyane mission - a lesson in overexpectation 93. graduation in Brazil 94. leaving the Northeast 95. Amazon - at the mouth of the river 96. Amazon - climbing the river (slooowly) 97. Amazon - still climbing 98. Amazon - the Indians' pain
99. Amazon - in the rainforest 100. Amazon - descending the river 101. other worlds 102. Northeast potpourri - part I 103. Northeast potpourri - part II 104. if you've gotta go down, go down swinging 105. embora 106. Brazilian camera debacle 107. walking Tchoko (I left my heart in ... where!?)
56. "St. Pete or bust!" 57. FREE KITTENS 58. "Date of the Week" program 59. playing in the storm 60. photo contest 61. save the "Date of the Week" program! 62. finding my Southern bell, y'all 63. world ice cream champion?
"ST. PETE OR BUST! 2000"
64. getting old 65. in search of the dim-witted armadillo 66. limin' with the Trinis 67. "Week of Gluttony" 68. hitchin' to Miami 69. "Date of the Week" savior 70. Jojo's victory 71. rules of the game 72. wrestling-animals date
73. sweetchum tradition 74. "Date of the Week" in Michigan 75. Psycho's date 76. memories of Pansyckas 77. Frenchy 78. Johnny's 22! 79. Florida Top 5 80. "Date of the Week" strikes midnight
40. Gothan Dag from Iceland! 41. "She was a knockout!" 42. Great Mattress Heist 43. mountains suck 44. another wrong turn
"ICELAND 2000"
45. snorkelling in "Ice"land 46. Great Mattress Heist II? 47. Fun Day 48. get-rich-quick 49. the art of glacial river-crossing 50. hunting puffins
51. swimming with fat things 52. work, drink, work 53. failed trips 54. Will and Justin's Hitchhiking Scavenger Hunt 55. going-away-from-Iceland bash!!
"FIRST STORIES"
1. where the rainforest meets the reef 2. transferring uni's 3. life as a nomad 4. Byron Bay weekend - part I 5. how to make a didgeridoo 6. roommate swap 7. the winner of Justin's death pool is ... 8. catching a pet koala 9. roommate swap - successful? 10. camping trip from hell - part I 11. camping trip from hell - part II 12. first hitchhiking trip
"AUSTRALIA 1999"
13. Easter Break with Aussies 14. Fraser Island 15. annoying travel partner 16. marine animals are fun 17. German travel partner 18. roommate swap - unsuccessful - and my wallet was stolen 19. Day One of my week with the Crocodile Hunter 20. "No flies on you, mate!" (the Crocodile Hunter conclusion) 21. fast times at SCU - part I ("Stack's on!") 22. The Smile 23. fast times at SCU - part II (wrestling Bronnie) 24. Kory visits Byron! 25. a night in Brisbane
26. my favorite city 27. the Dalwood Falls story 28. in the rainforest, another tough camping trip 29. the uni days fade 30. Sydney, please - student 31. the Darling waltz 32. the last sundae 33. longest hitchhiking trip 34. nothing to do but snorkel 35. leaving Australia
36. paradise
37. my Fijian family