Resume

Paul Heller
4714 Windsor Blvd.
Cambria CA 93428
805-927-1164
email:travelwithpaul@hotmail.com

Relevant Work Experience

• President of Travel with Paul
• Editor of the Big Blue Marble Newsletter

Following twenty five years experience traveling round the world as a volunteer, instructor, student, and traveler, Paul Heller founded The Big Blue Marble in 2004. The Big Blue Marble provides seminars and booklets and extensive travel tips sheets and book reviews for travelers seeking information about alternative travel options such as home and hospitality exchanges, learning vacations, and volunteer opportunities. Paul is also author of the upcoming book: Travel Like a Local: A Whole New Way to Travel Safely, Inexpensively, Comfortably, Joyfully, and Purposefully and editor of the Big Blue Marble newsletter (for more details see future travel plans section of this resume).

• Public Relations Experience

Assisted public information officer to prepare press releases, newsletters, proclamations, reports, and arrange special events (Town of Apple Valley, CA 1990-93). Completed journalism courses.

• English as a Foreign Language Instructor

Taught English at Kaliningrad Commercial College in Kaliningrad, Russia from August 1994 to May 1995 through World Teach, Cambridge, MA. Developed and delivered curriculum, graded papers, and adjusted to working in a challenging work environment. Made lifelong friendship with students and their families.

Travel Experiences

• Studied Spanish and Tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina (February 2003)
• Traveled to Singapore as a document courier for two weeks for under $750 including airfare (February 2002)
• Backpacked and stayed with local families in the Baltic States, Poland, and Russia (Summer 1995), Central America and Mexico (July 1992 and January and December 1986), and Indonesia (November 1991)
• Studied Russian at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia (May-August 1994)
• Home Exchange: Paris (May 1990), London (August 1981)
• Semester Abroad, American University in Cairo (Fall 1984)
• Studied Spanish in Guadalajara, Mexico (University of San Diego, Summer 1983)
• Exchange student in Tepic, Mexico (Summer 1982) (World Learning), Yaizu, Japan (Summer 1979) and Baguio, Philippines (Summer 1980) (Youth for Understanding).
• High School Bus trip around the USA (1978)
• Cruise Travel around Mediterranean (2004), Mexican Rivera (2003), and the Caribbean (1978, 1979)
• Reality tour: US-Mexican Border (2004)

Education

• BA, Macalester College, Saint Paul MN. Geography and International Studies. Minor in Spanish (1986).
• Masters of Public Administration (MPA), University of Southern California, Los Angeles CA (1990). Graduate in top 1% of class.
• Near Completion of AA, Travel Management, Los Medanos College, Pittsburg CA (1999)
• Completed several courses on Teaching English as a Second Language, University of California Riverside (1994).

Future Travel Plans

Starting in 2005, Paul will begin a several year long trip around the world starting in Latin America. During this trip he will collect and report information about hundreds of alternative travel experiences. He plans to travel around Latin America for three to five years and then to continue on to Asia and Africa. His observations will be reported in the Big Blue Marble newsletter.

Other Work Experience and Skills

• Published article on Tours of the East Bay (a region of the San Francisco Bay) in Diablo Magazine, September 2002.
• Fifteen years public sector work experience including grant administration, affordable housing development, legislative analysis, and public relations (1986-1994; 1996-2004).
• Teaching Assistant, Geography Department, University of Southern California
• Ability to speak near fluent Spanish and Russian. Can speak a smattering of Japanese, Arabic, French, Mandarin, and Portuguese.
• President Toastmasters Club, 1993.
• Volunteer Tour Guide, City Guides, San Francisco, 2003-4.
• President and Secretary, Public Administration Graduate Association Network, University of Southern California, 1989-1990.
• Read approximately 1000 travel related books
• Attended fifty community education courses on travel, careers, writing, and teaching (1999-2004) and two conferences on Travel Writing.