Although I earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism in 1989, the schooling that truly shaped my career began a few years later at The New Yorker, where I enlisted as a fact checker during the turbulent reign of Tina Brown, disassembling the works of legends like John McPhee and David Remnick. Since landing in Portland, Ore., in 1998, I’ve covered the world. Whether it’s cruising all five Great Lakes on a French yacht for Travel+Leisure, or as editor of Portland’s award-winning city magazine, following the trail of a designated global terrorist from an ashram in Ashland, Ore. to a sand dune outside Riyadh. My life’s been an adventure, as you’ll see from the works I’ve assembled over the next few pages. With each assignment I undertake, the story unwinds. And my journey continues ...