I was an exchange student to Germany through YFU. I have travelled Europe and have done medical missions in the Philippines. My sister was a teacher at an orphanage in Honduras and my brother received his Master's of International Business from Bergen, Norway. I love travelling and meeting new people. My wife and I want to raise our children to see the world as a community and that other cultures may do things better or differently than what is common in the United States. When visiting a country, I have always made friends with locals and had a much better experience and learned so much more about the culture; instead of staying in a hostel or hotel and seeing the museum and local sights. I love languages and am interested in different views/opinions. I believe that this Earth can provide enough for every NEED, but cannot support everyone's GREED! I love nature and trying to leave as small of a destructive footprint on this wonderful world, we call home.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My wife and I are looking to meet new people "especially parents of younger children" and experience new cultures. Since many wonderful families opened their homes to me while in Europe and abroad, I wish to give back and give others a safe place to stay at a much lower cost, enabling even those on a shoestring budget to travel. We desire our children to meet new and different people, to learn to have an open mind and not to judge to quickly. My grandparents always stayed with extended family when taking family trips, now people visiting family normally stay at a hotel. We want to be able to travel and see new places and meet new families and make friends. We wish to open our home, like others have opened their home to us.

Interests

My wife loves to draw, paint, garden (flower and vegetable), restore/renovate homes and make jewelry. I like to cook, meet new people, live in a sustainable manner, grow vegetables, learn about different cultures and travel. I love to sail, SCUBA dive, spend time on and in the water, snow ski, be outdoors and make new friends. We appreciate art and well made wood/stone/brick work. Like home-made wood furniture from reclaimed wood or a brick wall/patio from re-purposed bricks... We are into recycling and reusing and reducing our waste and working toward a Zero Waste Home. Minimizing wasted food and items. We love finding used clothes, toys, items at garage sales or second hand shops. If we do not need to buy new, we try not to. We try to get the most energy efficient items possible. We enjoy attending local theater presentations, as well as larger productions in Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Toronto (like Broadway productions Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, musicals by Andrew Lloyd Weber). We also enjoy canning and freezing fresh vegetables from our garden, making wine and beer with our neighbors, harvesting fruit from local orchards. We also home butcher chickens, pigs, deer and other animals for quality meat.

• animals
• chickens
• arts
• culture
• theater
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• gardening
• clothing
• flowers
• traveling
• garage sales
• painting
• drawing
• opera
• outdoor activities
• scuba diving
• sailing
• skiing
• business
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

My wife likes country and celtic music. I like classical and european/african folk music. We like Rick Steves PBS travel shows, PBS Roadshow Antiques, BBC miniseries (Downton Abbey/Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners), the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, the Travel Channel, Bones, Game of Thrones. We have DSL and a TV/BlueRay Player, but do not have cable or local TV at home. I like reading Clive Cussler, JRR Tolkien, Sword of Truth/Wheel of Time/Game of Thrones series, The Kingkiller Chronicle's, and some non-fiction. I enjoy old atlas's and maps. My wife loves to read Romance, Louis L'Amor, Jane Austin, and others. She also loves art and travel books.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went to live in a foreign land, knowing less than ten words of the language. I stayed there for a year and learned the language, culture and made lifelong friends. I assisted a woman give birth to her first baby boy outside of a hospital in the Philippines. He was healthy and was a major sweet memorable moment in my life. I have also seen death cheated, having held a human heart in my hands, manually massaging it, until the trauma surgeons were able to find and repair injuries to the arteries and veins and we were able to stabilize the patient. This person lived and I was able to speak to them two weeks later!

Teach, Learn, Share

I love teaching others about things they do not know much about, like making an old tractor tire into a raised vegetable garden. It is exciting to pass on knowledge to someone that wants to learn about something. Teaching a person what native plants are edible and how to survive off the land and be self sufficient.

There are so many things in the world that I do not know about and love learning new skills and ideas or understanding how things work more fully.

I believe that every human has a story to share that I can learn from and grow into a more loving understanding human.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have travelled to both Europe and South Asia, experiencing many different cultures, food and what people view as "Normal." Having grown up on a farm and learned to be self-sufficient and fixing things, I do not shirk from getting my hands dirty or helping out around the house. I have many neat stories to tell. My wife being an artist and photographer has taken some very nice professional quality family photos for friends and people that have opened their homes to us. Both being bench jewelers, we usually bring a nice handmade piece of jewelry or art as a thank you!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin (French part), Sint Maarten (Dutch part), Slovakia, Switzerland, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Philippines, United States