CURRENT MISSION

To bike the entire length of Japan, from the very top to Okinawa. During this time, I would like to get fit, become more comfortable with being alone, being without technology, and being more present. I also would like to document the trip with video and pictures.

ABOUT ME

Hi! So some words that I think describe myself: playful, (I like video games, board games, some sports, but generally I think I have a fairly child-like attitude when it comes to adventurousness and having fun) kind and compassionate, friendly, thoughtful, analytical (definitely more thinking than feeling), pretty smart, interesting, interested, creative, and honest. Of course there a bunch more but I suppose those sell me the best :-) Always working on introspection and being a better, more loving, understanding me.

Some other random stuff about myself:
Meditation is something I think is vital to our lives, but I have really been struggling to actually sit down and do it.
I really love Japan and could talk about it forever.
I really love to travel. A lot.
I really love baby animals, and anything cute for that matter.
I think too much.
I LOVE swing dance!
Bit of a night owl.
I am a filmmaker.
I can be competitive.
I am a pretty good cook.
I love the outdoors, love to hike, camp.
Totally in the cat camp (as opposed to dogs, though I do love dogs too).
LOVE the Golden Girls.

I WWOOFed in Japan for three months a few years back, working on 4 different farms. Well, one was a Youth Hostel. The others were a green tea farm, mostly hauling fertilizer, a flower farm, where I weeded, and a weird kind of farm co-op, giving farming experiences to urban-dwellers. It was a fantastic experience, and I remained good friends with the green-tea farmers to this day (they are coming to visit me in the USA in 2014!). I also taught English in Japan for a year, so I am accustomed to traveling and living alone.

I also traveled to England, Ireland, Spain and Morocco a few years back, WWOOFing a bit and just exploring a lot.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I CURRENTLY AM PARTICIPATING IN COUCHSURFING

I am biking the length of Japan and looking for some nice people to have me for a night! I will be mostly camping, but would love to meet some good folks to stay with to sweeten the trip :-)

HOW I HAVE PARTICIPATED IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted people from France while living in Japan, and people from a few different countries while living in the USA. I have surfed a few times in Japan.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Nothing but goodness, wholesome crunchy goodness. Met some people I still stay in contact with.

Interests

• animals
• documentaries
• vegetarian
• running
• flowers
• traveling
• boxing

Music, Movies, and Books

Neon Genesis Evangelion, Autobiography of a Yogi, Passion Pit, Miike Snow, Fiona Apple, most musicals, Matt and Kim, I am a Strange Loop, Daft Punk (yes), Yoshinori Sunahara, Tycho, Lusine, anything by Haruki Murakami, NPR, This American Life (radio, oops), Radio Lab (radio), Spirited Away (and most of Miyazaki's work) the Disney classics, Gone with the Wind, Full Metal Jacket, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, my favorite movie is Synecdoche, NY...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

climbed mt yufu in Oita prefecture, Japan. In converse shoes. I was wildly unprepared for what i had gotten into. It was the only time i did something willfully that i felt legitimatly scared for my life. but the summit was pretty amazing, it was in the clouds.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would like to paraphrase a great quote I heard, and I forgot who said it, but here it is
"In this world that believes there is a shortcut to everything, the best lesson is that in the long run, the longest way is, in fact, the shortest way." I always try to take the long-cut.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world" -Mahatma Ghandi

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories- lots of stories. And pictures! I will be bringing my camera, and would love to take pictures or you, your cat, your house, whatever you want! I think I am a pretty good photographer.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States