CURRENT MISSION

Never stop traveling

ABOUT ME

I've always called Boston and environs home. Born in Cambridge (right next to Boston), lived in Watertown (suburb right outside Boston) until I was 2, grew up in Framingham (suburb 30 minutes out), and moved to Newton (right next to Boston) after elementary school. Italy has always been home too, since I was a kid, accompanying archaeologist parents to Rome and Naples, falling in love with the country, and its language, culture, food, people. I'm now in Ireland, after 5 months in Italy, 2 in Turkey, and 3 weeks in Georgia.

PHILOSOPHY

Leaving my office job in January 2010 (although it was a good job while it lasted), retaught me that life is full of amazing surprises, and incredible things to do and see when you don't necessarily know what tomorrow will bring, or where you'll find a bed to sleep on week to week.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

CS is one of those things friends and friends of friends have been doing (or at least have done from time to time) for a long time, and now that I'm finally on the road, I've become a huge fan.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

A few fantastic experiences in Turkey (though my friend did the legwork getting us up and running).

Interests

Traveling (sorry if i'm a bore by repeating it, but largely, so far, in Italy), music (both listening-to and playing-of, guitar specifically, although these days not as much as I'd like), good beer and wine (although I can only speak somewhat intelligently about beer), good food (cooking it, too), good company, meeting people from different cultures who speak different languages, good conversation with said people, dogs (I miss mine immensely), biking (both for exercise and for getting around the city), reading, photography.

• dogs
• fish
• culture
• photography
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• exercise
• running
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• cycling
• fishing
• archeology
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Recent books: Gomorra (about the Naples Camorra, its mafia) in English, and soon, going to tackle the Italian, Vasari's Lives of the Artists, Mark Twain (his Adventures of...), Orwell's 1984, Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, The Devil's Cup (all about coffee), Orhan Pamuk, Snow. Recent movies: crappy ones I downloaded for rainy days I'm too embarrassed to list, but some decent ones, too (like Kubrick), and a whole lot of Italian films (Fellini, Bertolucci, De Sica) I need to watch or re-watch. Music: Medeski Martin & Wood, all great jazz from the 1930s - 1970s, anything with rhythm and lots live (except for pop, sorry, just can't handle it).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Family friends in Naples in the kitchen; Efes in Turkey, Mt. Kazbek in Georgia.

Teach, Learn, Share

Am able to teach: some guitar technique and songs (although the "crowd-pleaser" songs I used to know have largely slipped through the wholes in my brain), English, and some Italian grammar (love conversations regarding differences in grammar, and just read a NYTimes article on language shaping how we think), lots of cooking (steaks, fish, many things Italian, with my own slant), recently, some bike repair, some photo and photo editing tips.

Need to learn: ancient history, medieval history, how to tie knots, how internal combustion engines work, how to dance (I'm a useless blob unless I'm sitting down tapping my foot).

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