TulaneLSU is real. Three reasons why.

1. No one can have such an encyclopedic knowledge of blueblood New Orleans culture, past and present without living it.

2. He clearly has the time and wherewithal to indulge his whims. An average working Joe couldn't take several weeks to meander through rural Alabama or the national parks of the west. He has money, probably inherited money.

3. If it's a long con, to what end? Why would he go to all this effort if it weren't real?

Does he embellish for dramatic effect? Perhaps. But behind the facade is someone very similar to what you see here.