About Us
Ron hales from Iowa, and still considers himself a farm boy – preferring bare feet and green spaces whenever possible. After obtaining the MSW from the University of Iowa, he lived and worked in Modesto, CA. He met Ryan there and they eventually set off on their current life path. By 2000, Ron had earned his TESOL (English as Foreign Language) Certification, while Ryan completed his Ed.D.
After recovering from the shock of the 9/11 horrors while visiting NJ family across from New York City, they set off to explore European life. After a few months enjoying the people and cultures of England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, The Netherlands, and Germany, they returned to Budapest where they had vacationed once in 1998. A truly urban metropolis, they decided to settle there for ‘awhile’. After growing up on a farm, then moving up to big town Modesto, life in this sprawling city has been eye opening and challenging, though enjoyable for the most part. You can read about Ron's volunteer work. The article is located here.
Ryan is originally from the New Jersey coast. Brian Hiatt wrote an exceptional article for Budget Travel magazine which included Ryan's home town of Long Branch and where he lived also, Asbury Park. He has lived in the States of NJ, NY, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. He taught elementary school at St. Michael’s in north Philadelphia before returning for and earning his Masters in Social Work from Temple University. Philadelphia is a city that is still near and dear to him. In Modesto, California, he specialized in medical social work and started his own consulting business in addition to teaching at Modesto Junior College. He taught there for 15 years before going to University of San Francisco, where he earned his Ed.D. in International and Multicultural Education with specializations in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Training.
Being a travel addict, Ryan has advised many on travel and has been an avid poster to web forums. Due to this, he was approached by Frommer’s Travel Guides and hired to write the Hungary chapter for Frommer’s Europe by Rail guide 3rd edition as well as the full guide Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary 7th edition. Both were in bookstores as of April 2008. He also wrote the Hungary chapter for the Frommer's Eastern Europe guide 2nd edition released April 2009. Ryan is currently writing Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary 8th edition for 2010.
He has also written for Gayot Publications and the Nile Project.
Since 1993, Ryan and Ron have traveled to 48 countries and counting on many more. This site, http://ryanandron.shutterfly.com/ has dozens of Ryan's photo albums all in one place. Feel free to visit often or sign up for the RSS feed to track changes.
Wish list: Those who visit and benefit from this site, but do not necessarily stay with us, may also want to perform random acts of kindness.Special thanks to Cindy Martin-Rolsky at Cruise Masters Travel for suggesting that we add this page.