CURRENT MISSION

To ride my bicycle across all of Europe's wine-producing countries, studying the gastronomy, history, ethnography, geology, biology, and taste of wine. You can see what it's about at thewinecycle.wordpress.com.

ABOUT ME

I'm a guy who's hungry for knowledge, hungry for adventure, hungry for a good chat, and hungry for food.

PHILOSOPHY

Life isn't going to live itself.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

For the time being, I'll be surfing, but as soon as I have a place to let people crash, just come knocking.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've crashed at friends' and acquaintances' houses, but haven't arranged anything via this website yet. One time, I was in a pinch because a friend and I were planning to camp on a drive from eastern Washington to Portland, Oregon, but then there was a surprise snowstorm. I called up an acquaintance in the area and she graciously let us crash on her floor. From there my friend and I were able to go run in the nearby Forest Park, go eat at some delicious food carts, and have a blast instead of being miserable in a tent 26 miles away from the city. I'm incredibly grateful for the experience: I want to have more experiences like it, and to provide them for others.

Interests

Too many interests to list! But to name just a few things I like: reading, writing, and sometimes 'rithmetic, cooking everything from homemade nachos from scratch to stir-fried beef tongue, watching movies, running down a beach right into the water and slamming against a giant wave, Scrabble, playing the ukulele, traveling by bike, standing on my hands, and pub trivia.

• writing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• running
• walking
• pub crawls
• trivia
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• cycling
• camping
• surfing
• swimming
• biology
• geology
• history
• beaches
• rivers

Music, Movies, and Books

I've drawn inspiration from these books lately: "The Songlines" by Bruce Chatwin and "The Spell of the Sensuous" by David Abram. Musically, I dabble, hard. If there is one movie I could watch over and over again, I wouldn't be able to respond because there are two: "The Princess Bride" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I was driving on Highway 101 north through California when all of a sudden I saw this hullaballoo at this bridge over the Klamath River. Cars were parked everywhere, and people were walking on the shoulder of the bridge and looking over the side. So like anyone with good sense, I joined the herd. When I looked down, I saw a full-grown grey whale swimming around in the Klamath. The Klamath, like most rivers, contains fresh water. The presence of such a whale in a river amounts to a rare sighting, an event that even biologists have yet to study, and a completely unexpected once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Teach, Learn, Share

How to play the ukulele, how to make awesome tex-mex food from scratch, handstanding tips, and more!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, England, Fiji, France, Georgia, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, New Zealand, United States