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About Me


About Me
Thong Do

Travel Photographer

California State University-Fullerton
BA, Political Science and Government

Norwich University
Master of Arts (MA), Public Diplomacy

US Peace Corps: 2002- 2004, 2016- current
Biography

I’m Thong Do, a Vietnamese refugee who left for America in the mid 1970s and have lived most of my life in Southern California. Growing up as a child, I heard many stories from my parents about the hardships of family members and countless others back in Vietnam. I felt very compassionate towards those in the 3rd world and realized how incredibly fortunate my family was to make it out. I realized how lucky I was to live in a country with such a high standard of living and felt compelled to help those less fortunate. Karma has been good to me and now I wanted to pay it back to those in need.  
 
For a long time I knew I wanted to do volunteer work abroad. In 2002 I became a Peace Corps Volunteer and began my service in the Transylvania region of Romania. I had the opportunity to be assigned to a UK charity, Hope and Homes for Children, and worked with the local orphanages for children and young adults with special needs. This was one of the most rewarding and satisfying experiences of my life. The fact that I could witness the misery and poor conditions of these orphanages and then see the children placed in loving and caring homes was extremely moving for me. Seeing the joy and appreciation of those receiving a small act of kindness has forever humbled and motivated me. It also reminded me to never forget where I came from. 
 
After my Peace Corps service, I continued my education and pursued my M.A. and got a career in the government sector. During this time I had the opportunity to do extensive traveling. Seeing these exotic places only fueled my wanderlust to see more. I also began to take an interest in photography to document these amazing places. Slowly, I developed my own artistic style and began to focus on landscape and portrait photography. 
 
After nearly seven years in the government sector, I decided to join the Peace Corps again because I missed the hands on work and working directly with those in need. Seeing the process and end results of your energy and passion at a personal level is something that has been absent with the government sector work I was doing and something I really craved. I also missed the adventure of being in a far away and exotic land and meeting new people and cultures that is completely foreign to me. I made the decision to do this now because I’m currently middle aged and unsure if I would have the opportunity to do this at a later time in my life.  
 
My goal of this travel blog is help inspire you to volunteer on a local or international level and to encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and travel the globe.  


Logo Meaning

In the fall of 2012 I took a 10 day trip that would forever inspire me and forge a new path. I took a vacation to Machu Picchu, Peru and the Easter Islands. I've had some travel experience before but what made this trip so memorable was seeing my first Wonder of the World. The altitude, scenery, human ingenuity, and people made such an impression on me compared to the many other iconic sites I've seen.  
When the holidays later arrived, I made a New Year's Day resolution and promise myself to see the 6 remaining Wonders of the World within a year. Fortunately, I had enough vacation time saved and just had to save up. I lived extremely modestly and did EVERYTHING I could do save up for this. My next trip was in the Spring to see Chichen Itza, Mexico and Christ the Redeemer, Brazil. In the Summer, I went to see The Petra, Jordan and The Colosseum, Rome. In the Fall went to see The Great Wall, China and the Taj Mahal, India.  

As I stood there in the sunset next to the Taj Mahal, I just sort stood there and was in shock for a while. Slowly, it was sinking in that I had accomplished something truly incredible. I realized that not everyone has the opportunity to see a Wonder of the World, let alone seeing all 7 of them, or seeing all of them in a 1 year span. This travel milestone is something that takes a lifetime for most people. While I was standing next to the Taj Mahal, I put my hand on it and was just feeling overwhelmed with the emotions of seeing such an extraordinary and beautiful piece of human ingenuity as well as the knowing how much determination and sacrifice it took to complete this amazing journey. My ambitious journey had finally come to a close and it was difficult to accept that one of my dreams actually became true. I mean really, how often can one actually say that?  

So, I took a picture of my hand on the wall as personal reminder of what I was feeling. Later, after doing my photo editing I realized how much I liked that photo and began to take photos of my hand on the following trips I made since.    

My hand + the iconic places I've been = The Iconic Hand 

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