CURRENT MISSION

To use my education, technical and community development skills to help in places and areas where I can.

ABOUT ME

I'm a quiet, mature, responsible person. I respect the people and places that I see and live in. I'm curious about the human condition and want to learn about and help others.

PHILOSOPHY

Now that I'm older, I'm most interested in long-term friendships, relationships, experiences and work that benefits those in need. I feel that I need to do something useful.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At the moment, I'm most interested in a middle to longer-term cultural stay (several months) in a country possibly in exchange for some work or service(English language instruction, community development, consultation, general farmwork, house sitting). I also have other skills listed below).

Interests

I enjoy life experiences more than traveling from spot-to-spot. I don't really travel to be a tourist. I prefer to work/volunteer in countries. I prefer living and working in rural or small-town communities, but I can also enjoy city life. I enjoy reading about various cultures, history and literature. Also, photography is important to me - capturing the moments in life.

• writing
• literature
• photography
• beauty
• education
• reading
• traveling
• communications
• teaching
• history
• tourism
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Too many to list. But, here's a start...
Jazz (Art Pepper, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Jack Teagarden, Misha Mengelberg, Miles Davis, Roswell Rudd...)

Other Music (Bob Dylan, Joe Henry, Richard Buckner, Kristin Hersh, Schemers, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Johnson...)

All forms of traditional, ethnic music played by real musicians on real instruments

Movies (Spirited Away, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Dogville, Local Hero, film noir, Kurozawa, David Lynch, Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Fellini...)

Books (Fiction: Sky Burial, Poisonwood Bible, The Corrections, Suttree, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Atonement. Authors - Cormac McCarthy, Carson McCullers and Ian McEwan)
(Non-Fiction: To the Ends of the Earth, Snow Leopard, Krakatoa. Authors - Robert Kaplan, Simon Winchester, John McPhee, John Robbins)

Really, too many to list...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The world is filled with mind-blowing beauty, but humans have also done a few amazing things, too.

The west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada. St. Peter's in Rome. Angkor Wat. New England. Grand Canyon.

Teach, Learn, Share

Community Development (rural tourism and WASH sectors)including project management, grant writing, capacity-building, training, M&E, donor reporting
English as a Second Language (CELTA certified)
Website building and administration, SEO (Wordpress)
Email Newsletters (Mailchimp)
Content writing and AP Style
Social Media Tools and Integration into websites (Facebook; YouTube; Twitter; TripAdvisor)
Publisher
Photography and Learning Lightroom