How do you describe yourself?
We usually start with a label—like the name your parents assigned you at birth. I’m Eric, nice to meet you.
But then what? Work and family status, race, gender, maybe some interests and hobbies.
But each one of us is all of these things and much more.
I’m a traveler. I’ve lived in the US, the Netherlands, Japan, and now Spain. I’ve traveled through over 35 countries on six continents (for a map, click here). I’ve been through 48 of the 50 US states (Hawaii and New Mexico pending).
I’m an editor, writer, and manager at Typeform’s online magazine—A little more human.
I’m an educator/teacher. I’ve taught English to children and adults around the world for over 15 years. I’ve taught university courses on decision making, reasoning, problem solving, and mathematical cognition.
I’m a cognitive scientist. After living in Barcelona some years, I needed a new challenge. I have published research how people make decisions, think with numbers, and solve problems.
I’m a happy dad of two boys. While finishing my Masters, I decided I needed an even bigger challenge. So I started a family.
I was born in a small town
April 4, 1980
Born and raised in the middle of the fields and forests, in the middle of Indiana, in the middle of America. Family values, road trips, small town mischief. What else is out there?
Hallo Maastricht: the world just got bigger
January 8, 2001
A study abroad program sent me to Maastricht, in the Netherlands. A new continent was at my doorstep. Students from all over the world brought their languages, food, drinks, and music. New people, new interactions, new cultures. I liked it. Where to next?
Konnichiwa Japan. こんにちは 日本.
February 3, 2002
Our plane unexpectedly went down in Alaska, giving me 24 hours to reflect on life’s uncertainty before finally arriving in Japan. A year in Tokyo, a year in Nagasaki. Exploring Asia, sitting in Zen temples, dancing till the sun came up. So many ways to spend time.
All aboard the Trans-Siberian Express
June 30, 2004
It was time to leave Japan, heading west. Took a boat to China, rode horses through Mongolia, took a freezing cold dip in Siberia’s Lake Baikal. Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia, hello Scandinavia, thank you Italy. Then I shaved my 3-month-old traveler’s beard, and met my future wife in Barcelona.
New life begins in Barcelona
January 1, 2007
My future wife became my actual wife. We backpacked, then backtracked to the same Barcelona flat where we first met each other. Then everything changed.
I’m a dad of two boys
February 22, 2010
All of a sudden, the most important thing in my life—that didn’t exist before—just appeared. How the hell do I do this? Now I’m a proud papa of two boys, trying to figure out how to do the most important job I’ve got.
I poked at the mind
June 30, 2015
I went into a program on Cognitive Science and Language, curious about how the mind works. I finished with a p(H|D) in cognitive psychology. And I still have no idea how the mind works.
Goodbye academia. Hello startup.
January 4, 2016
I joined a then-small Barcelona startup to help launch their original blog. I had little experience in marketing, and no experience as a writer at a tech company. But I loved to write, knew I wanted to work there, and worked my ass off to get hired. We’ve grown lots, I’ve learned lots, and I still have lots of questions.
I started Looking out Loud
January 1, 2020
What am I doing with my life? Why am I even here? When I think at Dadspace, I see my myself as dad, a husband, a friend, a coworker, a normal guy trying figure out daily life. When I think at Mindspace, I see myself as a brain and body coevolving with my environment since birth, part of the unfolding story of Homo sapiens, who’s end has yet to be written.
Next adventure: a year in another country
July 1, 2021
The 2020 pandemic jiggled the world. It reminded us of how much is outside our control, and how much we should take advantage of the things we can control. And it prompted us to move our entire family from cosmopolitan Barcelona, Spain, to rural Indiana, USA. Why? That will unfold as the days go by.