Hi, I’m Michael Saltzman, a writer, photographer, and product designer based in San Francisco. But only recently have I called America home again. From 2016-2023, I traveled extensively through Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and Central America. While my motivations for this lifestyle were many, I often shine a light on the wisdom of pilgrimage when asked, specifically my reflections around walking various routes of the Camino de Santiago, an ancient network of 500+ mile paths converging in the northwest of Spain.

Before my travels, I worked for high-growth startups in Silicon Valley and New York City. We didn't yet have a term for "digital nomadism", but the upside of the lifestyle seemed obvious — and so woven into my travels, I led product for two early-stage startups, one of which I co-founded. Both failed, but I'm proud of what we made and why we made it. And I'm proud of what I learned. Among many takeaways, one continues to make direct eye contact: my work must touch the heart.

I've long been drawn to the hard questions and choices that invite us to live an examined life. Those that call from the higher parts of our nature and challenge the status quo. This impulse born of adversities early in life continues to shape me today. And I explore these in my work through travel, culture, technology, relationships, society, lifestyle, community, and self-inquiry.

Write me@michaelsaltzman.com or follow my Instagram.

I hope you feel at home here.