Overview
Overview
Shanghai Brown, captain of v, and his latest adventures – musical, written, and more!
Different folks know me in different ways. To some, I’m an award-winning professional photojournalist, with decades of experience writing, shooting, editing, publishing, hosting, producing, and more.
To some, I’m a travel writer, a travel and tourism professional, former president of the state-recognized destination marketing organization, the California Deserts Visitors Association, or they’ve met me at my booths for nearly a decade at the largest consumer travel show in the country. Some international tour operators may have used the itineraries I’ve created without even knowing their origin.
To others, I’m the tour guide that takes them to strange places they would have never visited with another guide, whether it’s a Native American sacred site, or a desert rum distillery. Or I might be the informal media liaison who gave a visiting travel writer not only an itinerary to help them with their story, but took them for a personal desert exploration. Some know me as a speaker on Route 66 in the Mojave.
I’m a strong believer in the power of travel and culture as the best means for educating ourselves in the most meaningful ways possible, and connecting ourselves to all that is most important on this planet – including our common humanity. While many folks divide travel into categories – luxury, adventure, ecotourism, etc. – I prefer to mash it all up and enjoy it all as it comes. The totality of the experience, the voyage that is our own life, doesn’t need to be categorized and put in boxes. Travel well, travel often, and live your best, whether you’re in a five-star resort or you’re dry camping for free on BLM land out in the desert.
Beyond that, to other folks, I’m the leader of a pirate band, singer, drummer, percussionist, traditional shantyman, songwriter, lecturer on piratical history, writer, radio personality, event producer, marketing consultant, and, I’m sure, a few other things, including maybe some I don’t want to know about. Some people think all this is interesting, some prefer their people to be easily labeled and identified, like a bug in someone’s collection. Nobody’s sticking a pin through me to put me on display if I have anything to say about it.