Upon reading Witold Rybczynski's A CLEARING IN THE DISTANCE , a biography of Frederick Law Olmstead, I decided to formalize my design education in the 19th Century manner. As Rybcyznski noted the words of Lewis Mumford reflecting on Olmstead's education: "travel, shrewd observation and intelligent reading"...the education for the self-invented man. So I travel and observe: Bali, Rwanda, China, Inner Mongolia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Argentina, The Caribbean, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, German, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, United Kingdom.