Cindy Fan is a writer, photographer and travel guide researcher. Her work has been published in The Toronto Star, Ultratravel Magazine, GlobalPost and Expat Living Singapore Magazine. See her articles for the press at cindyfan.com/published
About Me
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, my path to becoming a writer was far from a straightforward one. My degree in English Literature and Classics (that’s Ancient Greek and Roman history in non-Academic speak) thoroughly frustrated my Taiwanese parents, but the degree led me to Communications and Digital Marketing. Yet I spent every moment I could away from the desk backpacking and exploring — from trekking across the wilds of Patagonia to camping in the Serengeti, journeying across West Africa in a truck, endearing myself into kitchens throughout Iran.
After falling in love with sticky rice and Mekong sunsets, in 2011 I uprooted my life in Toronto to live la vida Laos. Suddenly, travel wasn’t about travel. It was about becoming local, diving down deep and living the story. Moving abroad is when I cut my teeth into writing and photography full-time — but more importantly, I learned how to plant rice, stand patiently beside broken-down buses and came to know that the difference between “tired” and “pubic hair” in the Lao language is the slightest inflection in tone.
I now divide my life between Laos, Vietnam and the world, juggling guide research/writing for Travelfish with chronicling my abiding love for culture, food, adventure — and misadventure — here on So Many Miles.
So Many Miles is a journey through stories. It’s about diving in, discovering and creating a narrative about the world, one story and one adventure at a time.
I am an explorer.
40+ countries. A deep love for Africa and Asia, especially Southeast Asia, my home. What drives me? Insatiable curiosity. An unshakable desire to find hidden places, to get way, way off the beaten track, often in search of moments of the sublime, quirky and strange. A love for the details, discovery and diving deeper. Also a lil good ol’ fashioned madness.
As a writer and photographer and peripatetic soul, I meet incredible people, see and do extraordinary things. I want to tell those stories with captivating photographs and prose that sparkles. So join me. I have travelled so many miles; there are so many miles to go.
Sincerely,
Cindy
Writer, Photographer, Travel Guide Researcher, Explorer