About Me
HI! MY NAME IS THAO NGUYEN
I am a writer at heart and an avid scuba diver by ancestral calling.
My story begins in New Orleans, LA.
However, the real story of research and travel begins after my 2012 study abroad trip in Singapore. I was immediately hooked on international travel after my first trip to Malaysia with friends for our first scuba diving course with PADI instructors. I traveled to six other countries during my one semester and logged 20 dives.
2012 Thao’s last days at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
After graduating with my bachelors degree in political science, I used my bartending money to travel to Europe to visit my friends I met in Singapore and Belize for…(you know it) scuba dive with whale sharks and the infamous Blue Hole.
Canon poses in Scotland
(Fast forward to 2015) I am lost with no sense of purpose, so my professor reached out about coming back for a master’s degree in political science and environment & natural resources. YASSSS! These two-years were grueling hard work. I was always either writing my thesis, attending classes, or being a graduate assistant, I was pushing my limits. The only thing that was getting me through was that my thesis was about marine protected areas in Indonesia. YUP, that means I got paid to go to Indonesia and scuba dive. This was my first taste of sponsored travel, while researching something I love (the ocean).
Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, Indonesia
2017 and officially a Fulbright Researcher. My research was based in Indonesia to expand on my thesis research and compare Indonesian perception of marine conservation in Wakatobi National Park. Being a democratic country, Indonesia also has similar public participation in marine conservation laws and regulations. I wanted to know what Indonesians thought about the conservation efforts and how involved were they in the process.
2019 I returned to the US and worked in the renewable energy industry.
Although it paid well and set up my financial foundation, I knew “that”wasn’t it.
It wasn’t what I was meant to do. My inner knowing said it to me everyday I showed up. “This isn’t it.”
Now 2023, here I am. A fresh start to write the story that’s in me. I share all the knowledge I have about research and travel. Specifically, solo female travel, graduate school process, Fulbright process and experience, how to conduct academic research, international travel guides, anddddd (of course) scuba diving.
