About me

Hi! My name is Ellie Wells Hokerson-Brun, and I am a student, writer, and creative. I am currently based out of Los Angeles, where I study communications and anthropology at UCLA.

Before moving down south for school, I studied abroad in Barcelona and London, which is where I picked up the travel bug. During my time abroad, I travelled to 15 European countries: I learned how to ski in Finland, went clubbing in Ibiza, saw Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower, and sailed the Amalfi Coast.

This was all fun and cool, but in the summer of 2025, I went on my first solo backpacking trip in South East Asia, which at risk of sounding completely cliché, changed my life. On this trip, I stumbled upon my favorite corner of the world, Indonesia. My experiences in Indonesia opened my eyes and my heart to a world vast beyond my imagination. It was here that I fell in love with hostel culture, the slow pace of life in surf towns, and yes, nasi goreng too. It’s where I learned how to teach yoga, stand on my own two feet, and be grateful for what I have. It’s also where I first learned how to surf, and perhaps more significantly, it is also home to my fieldsite, where I conduct ethnographic research with displaced women vendors in Lombok to document the human costs of tourism development.

Nancy Banks-Smith once said that anthropology is the science which tells us that people are the same the whole world over, except when they are different. I say that anthropology is the science which teaches us the same irreplaceable lessons we learn through travel– the humility, empathy, and cultural awareness– that don’t require a transatlantic plane ticket. Since this revelation of mine, I’ve fallen in love with anthropology as a discipline, and the life it’s given me–one dedicated to learning, teaching, and exploring.

As for this blog, my hope is that it becomes a space where I can explore the anthropology of me, through all of the places I’ve been and where I am going. Because through travel, we don't just learn about others, we find our way home to ourselves.

Thanks for coming along!