About Me — Scott Nuce
Traveler, writer, and observer enjoying a human experience
I wrote my first story when I was in the third grade. Actually, it was a play. I don’t remember what it was about now.
What amazes me is that I convinced a few of my sassiest classmates to perform it in the parking lot at recess. I guess some people are born to be stars.
I didn’t write many plays after that, but I remained eternally inspired by my muse and best girlfriend, Bonnie. She headlined a series of short stories that were greater than Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes combined.
Oh, the adventures she had! I don’t know if I ever let her read them.
In junior high, I decided that I wanted to be an archaeologist. They called me “Indiana Nuce” because of a famous movie at the time.
What a fantastic career! I could have traveled the world searching for treasure and dodging the bad guys!
As a teenager, I spent hours poring over foreign dictionaries and studying the pages of Teach Yourself language books. The bookstore in the mall didn’t have the titles I wanted, like Swahili and Indonesian. I had to special order them and wait for weeks until they arrived.
In high school, I enrolled in a creative writing class. From all my years of writing, I’d amassed a portfolio as thick as my forearm. I still have it to this day, securely tied together with giant rubber bands in the remains of a folder emblazoned with our football mascot.
So, I did write another play. It was one of the required assignments for that class. It was about five minutes long, filled with moody Beethoven sonatas, intricate descriptions of lighting and scenery, and dazzling interpretative dance.
But there was only one line of dialogue. I think it was: “My baby. He’s dead.” Or something profound like that.
My teacher wanted to give me a perfect score, but she couldn’t, and she was quite upset about that. However, the syllabus clearly stated that one of the requirements was developed dialogue.
I didn’t care. She let me submit it anyway and gave me an A-. She even unlocked the school theater so the entire class could watch me direct my masterpiece. She cried and hugged me when I told her I nominated her for Teacher of the Year.
I took my first international trip in the 11th grade. A group of us from Spanish class spent a week in Mexico. It left an unforgettable impression on my young mind and inspired a lifelong love of travel.
After graduation, I enrolled in college to pursue a degree in linguistics. But then I realized I didn’t want to edit dictionaries or teach the subject. I wanted to travel.
So, I dropped out and told everybody I was going to Africa. I have yet to make it there, but I’m getting close. (I might get there next year.)
I stumbled into the world of technology in the 90s and discovered that I loved the beauty of coding. The rules were strict, but the outcomes were predictable (as long as you squashed the bugs). And you had lots of room to play from point A to point B. It was like getting paid to solve puzzles all day.
I resumed my college studies, this time in an online environment. It took a few more years than a traditional school, but eventually, I earned myself a master’s degree in information systems and an astronomical amount of student loan debt.
During those years, I traveled to a handful of countries, mostly in the Caribbean and Central America. I was building quite a portfolio of travel stories in my head.
I was at my happiest whenever somebody asked me about a trip. I’d light up and say, “Oh, guess what happened when I went to Belize!”
And then I got sick. I was burned out. I developed acute pancreatitis and earned myself a two-week stay in the hospital.
I gave it all up. I turned my back on everything and moved to the southern United States to be closer to my aging parents.
I’m still there today.
I have a job in retail management that pays me enough to let me travel as I wish — mostly, as long as I don’t dream too big. And for those grand adventures, I’m working my side hustles.
I’m in my 50s now. I’ve reinvented myself more times than Madonna.
I’ve self-published works of fiction under a plethora of pen names. And I still love doing that. But I realized that the most incredible stories are the lives we lead.
I write about things as small as the fierce determination of a hermit crab trying to climb the crumbling bark of a palm tree. Or as timeless as learning that you will survive heartbreak. And that it is possible to love again.
I’m building a life around travel, and I’m only at the beginning of that journey. The most amazing things always happen whenever I leave my comfort zone — or maybe it just seems that way to me.
I want to write about it, make videos about it, and travel to the dusty corners of the globe to participate in unique and moving cultural events.
I’ll try anything once. Well, maybe not deep-fried scorpions.
But I don’t know. Ask me after a few cocktails.
