I am an Electrical Engineer with a huge travel obsession. I grew up moving every 3-6 months from the time I was 10 years old with my large family (2 parents, 5 children). My father was a medical technician working for medical staffing companies that contract to hospitals all over the country. I have since always wanted to travel the world, from cities to the most remote regions and every historical site. I went to college in Missouri, a small state engineering school where I focused on Power Systems Engineering, specifically renewable energy systems. It was a good school, I met my partner there, his profile is here (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/jed-hobbs), and now we live in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area in Iowa. We both work on avionic electrical systems, it is an interesting career.

We are very open and laid back people. Our home is under renovation, it will be on going project for a couple years because we doing most of it ourselves (and room by room). It is fun, but because of that our home is often messy and cluttered, especially when we switch projects so a room that was clean randomly becomes storage. We are building the majority of our own furniture (which keeps the garage pretty messy), and have some other time consuming hobbies revolving around the renovation.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to travel and have new experiences. I want to meet others and get new perspectives on life while making lasting connections with others.

Interests

Travel, white water rafting, dance, hiking, kickboxing, architecture, history, cycling, and things like that.

I love travel, I have always been obsessed with it. I want to see everything. I want to walk through old cities and learn more about what influenced their culture, art, architecture-everything. I want to hike through remote Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, and more, places that have been mostly untouched by massive development and population growth. I also want to visit all of the UNESCO world heritage sites, and other ancient landmarks that have yet to make the list. Most of all I want to meet the people who live there or those that want to do a trek together.

Other than travel, I do enjoy staying as fit as I can because my job is mostly sitting. I found kickboxing is very good for fitness, strength, flexibility, and stress relief. I try to get out and ride my bike on the trails near where I live as much as I can in the summer. I am taking dance classes and working on learning, I'm not very good, but everyone starts somewhere!

I'm not a fan of winter, so I pretty much hid inside under an electric blanket planning exotic adventures, drawing out plans for a new table to build, reading, and playing video games.

• arts
• culture
• architecture
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• fitness
• video games
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• cycling
• hiking
• scuba diving
• rock climbing
• engineering
• history
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't read as often as I should, I feel lazy after sitting around at work all day so reading makes me feel even more lazy, so I try to do it at the gym on a bike or something.

Ones that come to mind:
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
All of the books so far from the The Song of Ice and Fire series
Disney Cast Member Confidential
Old book I read in my youth: Dragon Riders of Pern

If you couldn't tell, I have a thing for dragons and fantasy. I don't care much for romance; I love adventure and fantasy.

Movies?

I like many science fiction movies, superhero movies, and comedies. I usually like the Disney family movies, they are usually just cute and funny, not all but most. I'm not a big movie watcher overall, same issue with reading, I tend to feel guilty for sitting down too long, so I usually watch movies/tv when I'm doing chores.

My taste in music is very wide. I love a lot of Latin music, great for dancing. I have been listening to more French music to learn the language faster. I usually like music that has a fast beat, I have some Turkish music I love, along with Japanese. When I'm doing chores or working out I am usually listening to Pandora's Latin Workout Station, or a mix of things I love including a good bit of alternative Rock/Hip Hop/electronica music. No Christmas music though, ever.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sky Diving! It was really fun and I highly recommend it.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share some of my experiences of U.S. National Parks I've visited. I have hiked some steep trials despite my acrophobia (I'm really working on it so I can do more trails and rock climbing). I love to make and share interesting food recipes with others! I love to cook!

I'm not sure what else I can really 'teach' anyone. I do not feel I have many skills or knowledge others might be interested in. I am a very open person, so anything we have in common such as an interest in history we might be

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to cook, and I experiment with a lot of recipes. I would love to cook you a meal that you might not be familiar with. I have a huge passion for people and learning about their experiences; I'm not the quiet type. I can offer tips and information about things like white water rafting and some U.S. National Parks.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States