Emma Muldoon

It could be said that a profile is really just a story, and this particular story begins with the introduction of a couple of little bugs of the friendly, some would even say magical type.

Infection from the wanderlust of the travel bug probably occurred somewhere in my early childhood when I moved around a lot with my family. It was then that I had my first modest taste of the special intoxication that comes with leaving one known place and venturing into the unknown. Travel continues to affect me in this way. For me, the transition from known to unknown generates a creative space of acute sensitivity to the experience of life, a space which beckons the arrival of my second mini beast friend; the writer’s bug.

Writing is a craft that provides a vehicle for creative expression, a vehicle I became acquainted with during a settled, but rather fidgety period of secondary and sixth form education in Buckinghamshire, England. I wrote poems and short stories in that time, scribbling down a teenager’s internal and external observations of growing up in a stagnating middle England society, or at least that’s how it felt to me. Like all crafts, writing must be learned, refined and developed, so that the vehicle provides a comfortable journey. Those days marked the beginning of that journey (my spelling was terrible back then) and I continue to learn, refine and develop in pursuit of the most comfortable mode of transport into the creative sphere.

The middle England fidgety period came to an end when I escaped into the dizzy heights of university life in Manchester. Arriving towards the end of the mid 90’s ‘Madchester’ era, I was happily compelled to submerge myself in the fascinations of Manchester’s electric subculture. I also studies a bit. Towards the end of those Manchester days life raised a number of signposts indicating the direction I would take thereafter. I wrote and gained important insight from my first ‘big’ academic piece, a dissertation entitled: ‘An Ethical Analysis of Capitalism’ that received a First Class award. I also learned valuable tools of the trade - the trade being life - from the Western Buddhist Order in Manchester. Armed with my merry bag of tools and ideals, I decided to venture into the unknown once more and set off for Asia a week after those little rolls of paper had been handed out.

I’ve spent the majority of this millennium on Asian turf, keeping a base in Thailand while taking every opportunity to chase the intoxication of venturing into the new unknown. I’ve worked as an international school teacher, language teacher, NGO volunteer, bar and restaurant owner, singer and travel writer, contributing to travel websites including www.1stopchiangmai.com, www.traveldojo.com, www.travelbox.com and www.travelotica.com, to name a few. I love travel writing, but find more space for creative expression in the language of poetry and prose narrative. As a suite101 writer I will have the privilege of contributing to the travel, poetry, mind & soul, world literature and Asian cuisine sections of the magazine. What more could a girl ask for!