CURRENT MISSION

Work around the world, meet interesting people.

ABOUT ME

I currently live in Chicago, IL, where I am working as a web designer/writer/editor for Openlands, an environmental conservation organization. I graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a BA in Rhetoric. I am also a dedicated musician in an experimental band called Comfort Food. Finally, I have a passion for travel and meeting people from around the world!

PHILOSOPHY

"Excuse me...Hey. Could we do that again? I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know?

I mean, it's like we go through life with our antennas bouncing off one another, continuously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us.

Stop. Go. Walk here. Drive there.

All action basically for survival. All communication simply to keep this ant colony buzzing along in an efficient, polite manner.

"Here's your change. Paper or plastic? Credit or debit? You want ketchup with that? I don't want a straw. I want real human moments. I want to see you. I want you to see me. I don't want to give that up.

I don't want to be an ant, you know?"

-from the film "Waking Life"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love to surf wherever I can. I feel like it's a wonderful way to meet new people in interesting places, and to see the places I visit from a more local perspective. I also like to host people at my apartment in Chicago.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Let's see, so far I have couchsurfed in: Ireland, Spain, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, London, Edinburgh. And for America: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Austin, and Ketchikan (AK!), and you can't forget my first CS experience, which was in Toronto, CA!

Interests

I love to travel, to meet new people in interesting places, and to steep myself in the unfamiliar.

I am a writer with a passion for writing about travel. I maintain a travel blog called Sisyphus Smiling where I write about my various travel experiences.

I am also a musician; I play bass and trumpet primarily and am mostly interested in experimental/noise music. I gig around Chicago with my band Comfort Food.

• writing
• design
• dining
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• survival
• music
• trumpet
• hiking
• camping
• cartography
• emergency services

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Apocalypse Now, Bladerunner, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, a scanner darkly, Brazil, Eternal Sunshine, Birdman, THE ROOM!

Music: Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, The Velvet Underground, Zep, Animal Collective, Nirvana, The Books, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, and my two all time favorites: Lightning Bolt and Deerhoof!

Books: 1984, Catch 22, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, One flew over the Cuckoo's nest, The Road, A farewell to Arms, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, The Fountainhead, Savage Detectives, Native Son, Invisible Man, The Trial, Sandman Comics.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Agony of Lafayette

A story written by my friend, Erik, about an adventure we shared my senior year of college:

A year ago, when Danny and I were still young and optimistic and not the hardened, bitter cynics we are now, we attempted something kind of crazy.

Danny and I were good friends already at this point, so the two of us and a mutual buddy named Vic started to plan a trip. The school year had stressed us out and we just wanted to GO SOMEWHERE, so we decided that we should go on a "hiking trip" from Urbana-Champaign to West Lafayette (home of DePaul University).

We looked up everything on Google Maps including an approximation of how long it would take to get there and aerial photographs of shrubs we could probably sleep under.

We bought our tarps, our water purification tablets (!?), our sleeping bags, a first-aid kit and whatever else we thought we needed. We packed between 75-100 cans of food.

The first day starts out great. We get about fifteen miles outside of C-U. Then we notice that Vic is having trouble. He already wants to quit. We ask him why and he said there was no way he could carry that bag any further. We switch bags. The bag with all the cans in it ways well over a hundred pounds.

It gets dark and we can't find the bush we were supposed to sleep under! Can you imagine that? We wander around the highway for awhile, afraid to sleep in a ditch - afraid to be caught by farmers or the police. With nowhere to sleep we were too tired to stand.

We eventually flagged down a car. A nice lady went to grab her husband (we probably looked terrifying) and came back to pick us up and give us a ride back to town. We booked the nearest hotel and brought our canned food and camping equipment up to our room. We all plopped on to the beds and laughed and laughed and laughed.

After about four tuna sandwiches a piece, we passed out. We bummed around Urbana for the next week and had a good time.

Teach, Learn, Share

I feel I have much to share with others in terms of the stories I have to tell. I have traveled a lot in my 25 years and I feel some of my most valuable insights were gained on the edge of total delirium halfway across the world in Indonesia, or getting lost in a mountaintop in Alaska, or through simply connecting with strangers about my neighborhood in Chicago in Poland!

I am also very open to others. I want to learn what they have to share with me, hopefully establishing an honest connection. I want to learn new skills, new ways of thinking, different ways of life. Couchsurfing is an ideal platform for these types of connections.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States