ATI: Webmaster

encargado del sitio en inglés

jandedacia@yahoo.com

Name: Jan Bjerggaard Pedersen

Age: 33

Origin: Hjørring, Denmark

Current residence: Århus, Denmark

Education: Degree in Nursing, Degree in Philosophy.

Occupation: Webmaster of the English ATI website, District nursing in Norway, working on my masters in philosophy,

Languages I speak: Danish and English

Limited language skills in: German, Norwegian and Swedish.

Interests: Aikido, art, fitness, health, history, literature, music, mythology, philosophy, religion, running, skiing, trekking.

Philosophical position/religious orientation: Humanist/Agnostic

Why did I become a traveller and why do I work for ATI?

Hans Christian Andersen wrote “at rejse er at leve” meaning “to travel is to live” and I think during most of my reflective life I have been interested in living, figuring out what life is and how to live a good one.

As a young man I was very much interested in exploring other counties but because of a lack of courage, financials and an environment that did not encourage such explorative adventurous thoughts it was not until my 28^th year that things began to happen.

By then I had been working as a nurse for nearly 3 years in Denmark and in England and I had saved enough money and gathered enough courage to realise my dream of becoming an “explorer”.

In the year 1998 I then left for a 6 months trip to the east and I dare say it put a huge smile on my face. Much can be learned from travelling and one of the most obvious lessons to learn is that human life indeed is rich and varied.

The most rewarding part of my trip was that I discovered that despite the diversity of human life and variations in human practice the people of the lands I visited all seem to share the same foundation; that they are first of all human beings and thus share more than they differ about.

My 1998 journey took me to Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, back to Thailand, Singapore and then finally home to Denmark. The trip holds many memorable moments but experiencing Nepal and watching Mount Everest from Kala Pattar is until this day my favourite.

After my return to Denmark I have in the following years made shorter trips to Alaska, Canada, England, France, Norway, Spain and recently USA.

I am working for ATI because I want to help people realise that there is more we human beings have in common than what we differ about. Through an open cross-cultural dialogue it becomes possible to explore what it is to be human, exchange ideas and experience and thus develop awareness and a critical sense that can be used to fight inhumane social constructions as well as becoming a great tool in the quest of living a good life.

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