Lauren Locke-Paddon

About Lauren:

Offbeat Guides writer Lauren Locke-Paddon landed in Caracas, Venezuela during a lightning storm in 2004. After six months of working during the day, and straining to learn Spanish over the music in the bars and discotecas of the capital city at night, she flew straight to Mexico. In Guanajuato she met up with her best friend, signed up for language classes at the local university and polished her Spanish as waitress at el BarFly.

Back in California she stuck around long enough to complete her undergraduate degree in Geography at UC Berkeley. A seasonal job allowed her to skip out on consecutive Northern California winters to tour Southeast Asia, China and India. For now she’s settled in sunny North Oakland growing sunflowers and dreaming about New York City and Istanbul.

The best piece of travel advice she’s ever gotten is from her 94-year-old grandmother, who loves Oaxaca and has made two trips to China: “Bring your passport and your toothbrush. You don’t need anything else.”

Recent Posts: