Who I Am

I'm a web developer based in Maine, where I'm fortunate to have a job I can do from home. That leaves me time for the things this site is built around, and time with my family—my wife and our two kids, who are happy and healthy, which is the part I'm most grateful for.

My wife is Cambodian. We met here in Maine, and my first trip to Cambodia was with her. It was my first time outside the US, and my first real exposure to the temples and to a culture that wasn't my own. It left a mark. We've since built a home there and go back regularly. Over time I've also come to Buddhism, which is now my faith.

Between trips I'm into photography, cars, tech, drones, and getting outside. We're avid campers and travelers, always have been. I wanted one place to put all of it that I controlled, rather than handing it to a platform that could bury it or change the rules. So I built this.

Cambodia

This is the deepest part of the site, and it's probably what most people find first. It started with that first trip and hasn't stopped—we go back roughly every couple of years now, and we have a home there. That repeat exposure is the whole difference. I've spent enough time on the ground to notice the gaps between what the internet says about Cambodia and what it's actually like.

Temples that don't make the usual lists. Roads that aren't on Google Maps. Drone shots from places that take some effort to reach. The adventures, the gallery, and the guides all come out of those repeat trips rather than a single visit.

Everything Else

The site isn't only Cambodia. We travel a lot closer to home too—Maine and New England are home base, we road trip through Canada, and work occasionally takes me elsewhere. We camp often. If something interesting happens on the road, I'll write about it.

Photography is where a lot of my attention has gone lately, drones included. I like the gear itself, and I like chasing angles, landscapes, and moments you can't get any other way. A lot of what ends up in the gallery starts there.

I'm also a car person. The current sports car is an E46 BMW M3. Before it I've had a 2012 Lotus Evora S, a 1998 BMW Z3, and a 2003 Mercury Marauder that I took all the way down to the powertrain and rebuilt. Builds, drives, and the occasional impulse purchase all end up here.

On the tech side, web development is my trade, so gear, gadgets, and the occasional deep dive into something I'm testing will show up in the forums. These aren't SEO reviews—just notes on things I actually bought and used, or products I created because of my own need.

Why "Carry On Light"?

It's three things at once. A carry-on is what you live out of when you fly, and a lot of this site starts at a gate, bound for Cambodia or somewhere I haven't been yet. "Carry on" is also just what you do on the road: keep going, take the long way, see what's around the next bend. And light is the other half of my life, the thing I'm chasing with a camera or a drone, the reason I'm up before sunrise or still out past golden hour.