About

Who is Sebastián?

I was born on what was probably a warm Summer day in San Diego, California. A few months later, my family relocated to Guadalajara, Mexico, where I lived until 2004—the fateful year I went on my first solo backpacking trip when I was 19 years old.

Before the trip ended I decided that I didn’t want to stop exploring the world, so a few months after my return to Mexico I packed my backpack again and moved to California.

After five years living in California and Oregon, I got the chance to go to Heidelberg, Germany as an exchange student. Back then I studied History and German at Portland State University, but had always wanted to come back to Germany. Long story short, after my first semester abroad I transferred, completed my B.A. And stuck around for my M.A.

After completing my M.A. in Eastern European History I lived in Berlin for a while and ended up here in Hamburg, where I work full-time as a translator.

I am passionate about literature, boxing, Eastern Europe and Black Metal.

Why Rebel Historian?

Rebel Historian is a blog with a DIY ethos. I research and write passionately about the places I love. My aim with this blog is to bring back travel writing and document my experiences discovering places off the beaten path.

My travels are usually improvised, but that only adds to the adventure. I travel rough and am both a master at getting into sticky situations and getting out of them! I am all about interacting with locals over a beer or ten, and exploring as much as I can. After all these years, my interest in the world has only grown—and continues to do so with every new country or even city I visit.

I’m always happy to get your messages so drop me a line whenever!

“En aquél tiempo yo tenía veinte años y estaba loco. Había perdido un país pero había ganado un sueño. Y si tenía ése sueño lo demás no importaba.”

― Roberto Bolaño