Into the Wild Spaces

Spammers and identity thieves, please take note:

I have spent most of my life living and working overseas, from Asia to Latin America to Africa. Other than travel, my biggest interests are open-source software and computer systems, writing, camping, hiking, surfing, and so on. This website reflects my passion for exploration.

I am the co-author of the best-selling travel guide book Moon Nicaragua and its companion Living Abroad in Nicaragua for expats and retirees. I am also the author of the phenomenal Dictator's Handbook: a practical manual for the aspiring tyrant. In addition to those three books, I have published several other pieces as well.

In my day job I make it easier for the citizens of developing countries to access renewable energy: my passion is solar power, and I practice what I preach, with a 3.4kW system on my own roof Prior to returning to Washington DC I was General Manager for a power plant construction project in Kampala, Uganda. Before that, I spent 2010-2015 as the head of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's program in Senegal, and four years before that as Deputy Director of the program in Benin. I am also currently the president of the RPCV group Amigos de Nicaragua. But I have worked as an English teacher, a civil engineer, and a deep-sea fisherman. I've even pumped some gas.

In my spare time I make maps and surf, play the 12-string guitar, and go hiking. I am a vocal advocate of Open Source software and believe strongly in the philosophy of its development.

I am listed on LinkedIn for professional networking, but refuse to use Facebook, and deleted my profile there after discovering its many flaws. I was on Google Plus when it existed. This is my Amazon author page. But I'm less a social networker and more an anti-social networker, which is to say, Usenet is my cup of tea.

I much prefer email. Drop me a line if you'd like to get in touch; my current (disposable, spam-filtered) email address is zafiro17 AT gmail OT-DAY OM-CAY.

Finally, interested in this site? Here is the colophon. Note, my entire site and all my writing is available on gopherspace. If you know what that is and how to access it, go here: gopher://therandymon.com. If you don't, then hey ... happy websurfing.