Greetings!

Let's see things you cant tell from all the previous demographic information. I am giant! Like 6'5". I am a fairly social creature who shares in a wonderful community of friends in the fantastic Pacific Northwest of the United States. My passions in life a re a bit variegated however the ones that seem to ring most true are my love of food (both growing, cooking and learning about it), travel (I began taking study abroad trips in college and continued to explore the world on my own years after), and community. I have chosen to set loose roots in my hometown and purchased a home a couple years back with the idea of providing a fun social space for me and my friends to live, grow, and develop skills (both practical and not). Most of my time is spent either working in the events industry implementing audio-visual support systems for large scale conferences, theatres, and concerts OR (and most importantly) or playing in my garden which pretty mush takes up all the space my house isn't providing me with endless oppurtunities for distraction =P

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've never tried it, and I have heard great things. Eventually this section may turn to something more along the lines of "Because its awesome and I've met great people." but until then I'm just curious. I love the idea of being globally connected, and I feel like a platform like this enables opportunities for experiencing places I visit in a unique way. I am looking forward to meeting the kind of folks that are kind and social enough to open their home to relative strangers, and can imagine there are a lot of really great conversations to be shared in regards to endless amounts of topics!

Interests

In no particular order;

Growing food (okay that one is particular) board games, movies, music (both playing as a drummer and enjoying as a listener!), getting drunk and annoying people by singing Disney music or bad 90's pop songs, evenings spent around the fire pit, exploring nature!, experiencing new places and cultures, ancient civilizations, food... oh man food... is there any better way to learn about a place than by ts food??, great conversations... the kind that start in one place and end halfway across the universe, learning new skills, teaching the skills I have which really i think is empowering, I like to empower people when I am able, meeting new people from all walks of life... and on and on and on.

• culture
• singing
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• gardening
• movies
• board games
• traveling
• music
• baseball
• archeology
• teaching
• languages
• study abroad
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm actually completely open to a ton of genres of music. Super nostalgic for the music i grew up with in the 90's. I love rock, bluegrass, oldies, pop country and just good ol regular country, musicals!, weird trancy instrumental stuff, seriously most things are palatable to me.

Okay so I own like 400 movies, and spent a great deal of time watching amazing and amazing awful films via the internet as well. I could gladly list top five movies from just about any obscure genre you could name. Try me. Just ask. I cant just pick favorites. Its impossible. It depends on my mood, and who Im watching with, or where I'm watching it, or the kind of emotion Im trying to evoke (wanna cry?? watch The Fountain, just saying)

I used to read a ton as a kid a teen. I think I reeally like the classics from the united states education system a bit. To Kill a Mockingbird, Jhonny Tremain, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Atlas Shrugged, Robinson Crusoe, Dracula, LoTR, etc etc. However I have in later life enjoyed more anthropological and exploratory reads looking into the relationship that humans have with their food and nature... Animal Vegetable Miracle, Guns Germs and Steel, Botany Of Desire, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Cooked, Why Zebras don't Have Ulcers, Carrots Love Tomatoes etc etc etc

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In my sophomore year of college I traveled to Egypt on a study away program with a professor and archaeologist to learn about Ancient Egyptian culture. The program lasted for about a month and I learned more about Egyptology than I ever thought possible from my obscure youthful curiosity. We all have had opportunities to explore the world and learn about another culture but lemme tell ya travelling with an expert and allowing them to educate and navigate you through that it is truly remarkable. There is so much to learn in this world, and that knowledge is soo freaking expansive that even as we pass through it we still can't see it all without someone there to help shine a little more light on the situation. I frequently wonder as I continue to travel all of the great information and perspective I am missing from the places I visit because I don't have someone with passionate knowledge of the space or culture to share with me. One of the greatest things I've done isn't that trip but rather coming to that realization at a young age, I think.

Teach, Learn, Share

Oh man I like to fancy myself a wealth of useless information. Obscure factoids, information about dead languages (yes i studied Latin for two years... for fun... who does that??), ancient cultures, human behavior, plants, the american tax system, baseball, beer, music.

Mostly though I think I have more to learn! I have my levels of expertise in a number of things, but I'm far more interested in developing more skills, and acquiring more useless or fascinating information. I think conversations over a few too many beers as been the most educational experiences of my life. Philosophy of life is built this way!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my life, my knowledge, and my experiences. For what thats worth depends greatly on the person. I can promise you that the only thing I only remotely consider myself an expert on is the process of cultivating land, growing, harvesting, preparing and preserving food... I am passionate and have spent really the last six years of my life exploring, researching, sharing, learning and growing in these pursuits. I think the relationship of a human being to their food is an important one and I like offering a unique understanding and perspective if requested. Plus its dang tasty food. And you can totally eat as much as you want =P

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Egypt, England, India, Ireland, Scotland, Thailand