Nathan Berg has been traveling outside the U.S. since age 14. Nine years, nine countries, and six languages later, he has finally landed on Capitol Hill — a far cry from his tiny hometown of Spencer, Mass.

As the newest intern in Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R-N.J.) office, Berg, a senior at Liberty University, admits he has a passion for travel. But you won’t necessarily see Berg with a Nikon lens stuck to his eye — he likes to engage people wherever he goes.

“I love traveling because I can experience new and different things and am able to see ways that I can help people and … be involved in life,” he says. “I have a better understanding of people so that I can meet them where they’re at.”

Berg is a self-described helper, dedicated to making a difference in the world. At 15, he traveled with his church’s missionary group to Timisoara, Romania, to help homeless children escape poverty and danger by arming them with educational opportunities that could last beyond his group’s departure.

“We worked to break the cycle of repetition by helping people get involved and giving them the tools necessary so that they won’t grow up and have children in similar circumstances,” he says.

He sees himself working on the Hill in his favorite field: energy policy. But he wants to keep things fluid.

 “I think it’s wrong to say in five years I’d like to be here or there,” he says. “So much can change in that time period. You just have to see where life goes.”

He does have some inventions to create new means of alternative energy.

“All I can tell you is that it involves gravity, because gravity is a constant [force],” he says. “Anything more than that and I’d need a patent before I go into detail.”

Besides being an accomplished world traveler and an aspiring inventor, Berg is working on a book about the harmful effects of absentee parents on children’s lives.

The idea for the book came from his mother, a secretary to the principal of a public school in Massachusetts, who constantly works with such children.

One would think Berg would have grand plans to meet some of the top dogs on Capitol Hill, but so far he is happy just working in the office.

“I know it sounds clichéd, but the only person I was really excited to meet when I got here was Scott Garrett,” he says.