Meet Chase Chisholm, Greenheart Travel’s Marketing Assistant!
Chase became a travel addict after his first international trip to Australia at the age of 18. He could hardly wait to explore the world more, so he rushed through his time at Waldorf College in Iowa, pausing only to work summers in Montana as a camp counselor, and graduated with a three-year BA in electronic media. Chase found himself on an acoustic band of sorts soon after graduation – touring the United States, as well as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia for year. He has also worked in various media outlets including radio and television stations, and at a large daily newspaper, but realized he had a passion for teaching while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guyana, South America.
Chase was most recently an English teacher for five years through Greenheart Travel programs in South Korea and Yangon, Myanmar. Capturing stories of people and the nuances of culture through photography and blogging is his hobby. When Chase isn’t hanging out with his 20 housemates in Chicago, he can be found jogging along the lakefront trail.
Read on to learn more about Chase’s favorite cuisine, memorable “aha” travel moment and why he loves working at Greenheart Travel.
A classic street scene in Yangon featuring trishaws.
Q: What is your favorite international city?
All of them I’ve been to! For reals, though, I’d have to say it’s Yangon. I lived there for three years while I was an English teacher with Greenheart Travel in Myanmar, and I basically had to be forced to leave I adored it so much. Yangon is pure magic. I’m a photographer at heart, and this bustling city—filled with some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever encountered—is a photo shoot waiting to happen every direction you wander.
Q: What is your secret talent?
My secret talent would have to be recording voiceovers hunched over in the attic of my Chicago residence for corporate commercials in Myanmar. I worked as an on-air talent at a radio station for several years, many years ago, and to this day I still pick up a few voiceover gigs from time to time. It’s special when someone I know from Myanmar tells me they’ve heard me on the radio or television there!
Korean bibimbap Chase made for his housemates.
Q: If you could eat only one country’s style of food for the rest of your life, which would it be?
Korean. Definitely Korean. I am absolutely obsessed with Korean everything (including K-Pop), and I can’t get enough of Korean cuisine. I want bibimbap all the time. Gimme samgyeopsal. Now. KIMCHI. More kimchi, please. I love finishing off a Korean meal with soju and/or makgeolli, of course. Sometimes I even try to make Korean food for my housemates.
Q: Complete the sentence: When I grow up I want to __________.
… Always be NOT grown up.
Chase wearing a dragon face mask from Korea.
Q: What is your spirit animal?
A cheetah is my spirit animal. Cats are my fave. I want cats on me and around me at all times. Plus, I usually go all “cheetah style” when I walk, run, or bike anywhere I go; even if I’m not running late or in a hurry I must move unnecessarily fast. Oh, also, my future drag name is going to be “Chachitah”. You better believe I’ll be adorned from head to toe in cheetah print.
Q: What is your favorite travel “AHA! moment” or memory?
Probably when I realized I had a huge passion for teaching while I was serving in the Peace Corps in Guyana, South America (2008-2010). That experience, and the students I had the pleasure of learning alongside, taught me I have the ability to teach and I can do so anywhere! I went on to teach English abroad for five years after my Peace Corps service ended. And I’ll likely teach again someday!
Chase with a two of his students in Guyana, South America.
Q: What is your favorite thing about working for Greenheart Travel?
Getting to work alongside some of my best friends while helping others on the path toward life-changing experiences in other countries is pretty [insert expletive + ing] awesome. It means the world to me to get to be part of a larger organization that strongly believes in cross-cultural exchange.