08 Travelers of the PNW: Jack Russillo

Jack Russillo, 24

University of Washington, Journalism & International Studies

Hometown: Orcas Island, WA - Although I was born in Australia, I spent my entire childhood based on a small, rural island in the heart of the Salish Sea, about 50 miles north of Seattle.

Hobbies: Hiking, mountaineering, rock-climbing, kayaking, fishing, gardening, reading, soccer, basketball

What is your relation to the Pacific Northwest?

It's home. It's where I was raised, it's where I feel most comfortable, I believe it has everything I'd ever need. Its vibrance, heartiness, and diversity make me happy and proud, they give me inspiration. I've had some of my biggest moments and best memories in the PNW and I don't see those letting up anytime soon. It will always be a place I cherish and I'll never be away for too long at a time.

Why is travel important to you? (What do you travel for?)

I travel to experience new things, to feel different parts of the world in ways that I'd have no way to back home. All my life, I've read about, heard stories, or seen images from all around the world. Traveling to those places usually gives you the most genuine perception of what they are like and they help you learn what other lives and landscapes are like. It's also fun as hell. Eating food, speaking with locals, getting lost and then found—these are all involved in many of my best memories in life and they all happened because I did something unfamiliar in a different place that I know well. I always try to get the most out of whatever adventures I go on, which means observing and absorbing the new part of the world I find myself in. It's a privilege to travel and I hope I never take it for granted.

What is your most memorable travel experience? How has it impacted your life and future travels?

After graduating from the UW in June 2018, I had a busy next 12 months. By the end of June, I was in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for a three-month reporting internship. Sierra Leone was the first country I'd been to outside of North America or Europe and everyday I took in the cultural differences while advancing my skills as a journalist.

After returning home for a month, I embarked on a nine-month expedition as a Bonderman Fellow. Beginning in November 2018, I spent nine months in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Thailand to gain a more holistic sense of the world. During my explorations, I was fortunate enough to achieve some outdoor recreational goals—I reached 6,000 meters above sea level on Cotopaxi and Huayna Potosi, dove to 40 meters in Indonesia and the Galapagos Islands, and went on dozens of hiking adventures—while also dining at a world-class restaurant with a forward-thinking and innovative model of combining environmental and cultural sustainability, experiencing many new and unique societies and ecosystems, and meeting incredible people from all corners of the world and all walks of life.

As a young writer, the new and different perspectives I experienced throughout my travels helped solidify in my mind that no story can be told accurately from a single point of view and that we often have much to learn from those that are not asked for their opinion. In the span of a few days in Papua New Guinea, I was the guest to a European Union ambassador and slept in a bamboo hut in an isolated village. Both experiences, and so many others throughout my fellowship, contributed a much more holistic understanding of the world and its communities of life. Overall, being able to independently travel the world to observe new landscapes, meet distant communities, and experience foreign ways of life helped me to develop a more complete world view and ponder effective examples of sustainable economies (that is, how different aspects of society work in tandem to provide benefits through cooperation and connection).

The year after I graduated was a big one and it has forever shaped my view of the world, including how and where I will travel in the future, but it certainly is calling me back to explore more of its funky diversity.

How would you describe your travel style? Are you a meticulous planner or a go-with-the-flow kind of traveler? What are some best practices you have learned to help you travel as best you can in your own way?

Both? It depends on my mood, who I'm with, and what my envisioned destination is. With only a backpack and myself to worry about on my Bonderman Fellowship, I had a list of places I wanted to go and things to do, but that served mostly as a guideline. I picked up advice and stories from locals or other travelers and I had to shift my plans to accommodate reality, but I knew that was a part of traveling. Being flexible is a part of getting out of your house (and out of your comfort zone), and it's a key ingredient to getting the most out of traveling, in my opinion.

How does coming “home” (wherever or whatever that may be) feel after you travel?

It's different with every trip, but like I've said, home has everything I need, so I guess it's often a relief to be home. Traveling can be exhausting so coming home to familiarity is comforting, but sometimes I also get home and crave the excitement that I was just exposing myself to. Other times, coming home simply provides an opportunity to reflect on the travels I just completed, signaling the end of a journey.

What are your future travel plans?

Well, who knows! All my plans to travel during the spring and summer (trip to Sweden in May, road trip down the Pacific Coast and back up the Cascades in June, mountaineering and climbing trips throughout) are currently cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I will hopefully be able to get out in the mountains and do some hiking and camping this summer, and I'm planning to go to Orcas at least a couple times as well, but who knows how much I can "plan". My plan to kayak from Orcas Island to Alaska in the spring of 2021 is also up in the air as of now. As far as my dreams go, I hope to go back to Indonesia for a dive-specific island-hopping trip, I want to go to Greece with my girlfriend, and I'd like to explore a bit more of North America, particularly the southwest of the US and north central Canada and Alaska.

How has the PNW helped shape who you are?

Ever since I was young, the PNW has provided everything I've ever needed. Most of my favorite foods are native to here, the landscapes aren't any better anywhere else, the people are often quirky but most of them are decent. The PNW has allowed me to open my eyes to see the world more clearly, it's allowed me to speak up and learn, and it's tossed me my share of adversity that has only made me stronger. I'm definitely one of those basic PNWers that rocks mostly flannel button-ups, a Patagonia jacket, and loves to be outside in wild spaces. I'm so proud of it. I believe that many of the values that are instilled in residents of the PNW go a long way in making the world a better and more enjoyable place, and I like to think that I've been shaped in an overall net-positive way by living here.

If you were to describe the PNW in three words, what would they be and why? Feel free to add a short story that supports your reasoning!

I'll stick with the three that I used in an earlier answer: vibrant, hearty, and diverse.

The deep greens of the conifer forests, the dirty blues of the rushing waterways, and the dramatic alpine landscapes that cause dizziness are only some of the great aspects of this incredible place. It's not the easiest place to live, but it's more worth it in the end than any other place I've been to.