From Alaska to Argentina, I’ll Ask: What Brings Us Together?

My ultimate life goal? For my future grandkids to say I’m the coolest grandpa who’s ever lived.

Of course, I also have professional ambitions, like becoming an accomplished diplomat “in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.” But first, my attempt to become the coolest abuelo or Ye-Ye (in Spanish and Mandarin, as I hope my future grandkids might call their Mexican-Taiwanese grandpa) will begin with one ambitious endeavor.

On June 10, I began a nine-month journey from Anchorage, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina. I’m visiting every country in North, Central, and South America except for Venezuela, without taking a single flight. Traveling by cars, trains, buses, and boats, I plan to meet people where they are to ask one central question: In an age of division, what still brings us together? To share their perspectives with the world, I’ll be creating a documentary and portrait series titled People of the Americas as an homage to the many faces, personalities, and stories I’ll encounter.

This journey is a natural continuation of a life spent across many borders. I grew up along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, a place that has always existed in the “in-between.” For me, that looked like rodeos and quinceñeras, Texas barbeques, and my abuela’s most incredible chilaquiles.

When I was 11, my family moved to Taipei, Taiwan, for two years for me to attend a local school and learn Mandarin. Moving while having had ling (that’s Chinese for “zero”) experience in the language and leaving behind all things familiar was a daunting leap. But learning to adapt to a new environment and forming close friendships with my Taiwanese classmates imparted the curiosity, resilience, and cross-cultural understanding such a move demanded.

That openness to unconventional paths continued when I decided to defer my enrollment at Princeton to participate in the Novogratz Bridge Year Program, spending nine months volunteering in Kunming, China, at a local organization.

Once at Princeton, I found community through photography and film classes at 185 Nassau St. and began to learn the power of storytelling through the visual arts. My closest mentor, professor Moon Molson, had no problem giving me D’s, but allowed me to learn from my mistakes and resubmit every assignment.

After quite a few D’s turned into hard-won A’s, I became a stronger visual artist. I’m most proud of my 2020 photo series of Whitman dining hall workers during the pandemic, my six-year campaign La Excelencia Latina, featuring Princeton’s Latino students with the flags of their heritage, and photos I took during my time as 2022 class historian.

My studies and career aspirations for the U.S. Foreign Service have also informed my ambitions. As a Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative Fellow, I’ve been fortunate to work at the U.S. Institute of Peace, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the State Department in D.C., and the U.S. Embassy in Peru. While these experiences deepened my commitment to public service, they were a sobering exposure to immensely polarized political realities both in the U.S. and abroad. I saw families divided, friendships fractured over ideology, and leaders increasingly struggling to find common ground.

This project, People of the Americas, is my attempt, as an American, a Latino, and a believer in democracy, to demonstrate what unites us. I will visit the region’s big cities, but I have an even greater desire to understand the places many travelers often overlook, from Andean highland villages to Amazonian river towns.

Even before beginning this journey, I have been deeply moved by the support of alumni who have offered funding, places to stay, and the comfort of a home-cooked meal after weeks on the road. I hope to learn from their journeys as well.

Others can support this project by donating at gofund.me/bb189a8b7, suggesting communities and individuals I can connect with along the way, or following my journey at people-of-the-americas.com.

Will I ever reach my goal of being the coolest grandpa who ever lived? Maybe. But on this trip, I at least hope to hear the most incredible stories from the coolest abuelos in México, vovós in Brazil, and gammas in Guyana.

Ryan X. Sung ’22 *26 is a two-time graduate of the School of Public and International Affairs.