ABOUT ME

Identity is a hard thing to nail down. And I don't think the books I read or the movies I watch or what I do in my free time really describes me.

My faith is most important to me. My relationship with Christ has changed me more than anything and He is my most worthwhile relationship I have ever encountered. So as some would define themselves as a student (their relationship to society) or a husband (their relationship with their spouse), I feel the thing that describes me most is my relationship with Christ. I feel myself with Him-I'm free to love on life with Him but also to feel lonely alongside Him or cuss Him out when things don't go my way. It's kind of like being in love, except better.

But overall, I have very little grip on who I am and I nail down previously undiscovered aspects of myself more and more over time. I am passionate: I am student studying Development-my study abroad experience studying international development, focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, at the University of London was one of the most impactful chapters of my life.

I love listening to people and understanding their life stories: I love asking questions while discussing another's history over coffee because everyone's lives are so unique, story-filled, and they give me ideas on how to best live my own life.

I love traveling: Traveling to me is like wine-tasting. Every city has a unique culture and feel to it. There are certain songs that relay the mood of Prague and there are colors that fit into my Vienna schema. That's also why I love couch-surfing because locals can help me understand the flavor of a city so much better than I could on my own.

That's the most accurate description of me that I can come up with in a half-hour. Hope that works.

Interests

I don't think this section matters much. Interests are pretty surface-level. I've never been/not been friends with someone because of their taste in music. So don't make any judgments about me from this section.

I like to drink coffee, kayak, and climb mountains when I get the chance.
I like movies like Up in the Air, Away We Go, and Ordinary People. But I enjoy a good chick-flick or action movie every now and then too.
I like music like Coldplay, Noah and the Whale, and Radiohead.

• culture
• books
• wine
• coffee
• marathon
• running
• sprinting
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• cars
• music
• kayaking
• surfing
• history
• study abroad
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

So one time I was in Colorado with a friend of mine, named Tim. We had road-tripped down to the sand dunes in some National Park. We arrived around 9pm and the sun had already set but we wanted to play on the sand dunes anyways. So we took off our shoes (we wanted to feel the sand when we curled our feet), and we didn't bother bringing a flashlight or our cell phones (We didn't want to worry about losing them). So we ran off and played for an hour or so until we decided we should head to the campsite. So we headed in the direction of lights (we figured that's where we left our car) and walked for a half-hour without getting any closer to the lights. After a while I took a bad step and landed on something jagged. Tim lifted his old, vintage camera and pressed the button that let it flash. With that instant of light we saw that I had stepped on a cactus. Not only that but we were walled on either edge by seemingly endless horde of cacti. We were lost. We could have walked through the horde had we brought shoes, or called a friend if we had our cell phones, or found a way around if we had a flashlight. However, we had left all those essentials in our car-the car we couldn't seem to find.

We kept wandering for another half-hour without much luck. Minutes before we gave up and surrendered to sleeping under the stars in the sand (which looking back wouldn't have been a bad option), we heard a rustling nearby. "Another tourist!" we thought. We started calling out towards the direction of the sound, "Hey! Who's there!? Do you know where the parking lot is?" But no one answered. I started to get pissed that this individual had the nerve to leave us out in the desert for his own entertainment but as I was about to voice this thought, Tim put his finger up to his lips motioning for me to be quiet. He lifted his camera again, flashed and there before us was a black shadow of a massive beast perched on all fours. A bobcat was standing feet in front of us.

We screamed with what we thought was our last breath as we turned and ran in the opposite direction. I didn't think, I just pumped my arms and legs with all the energy I could muster. Tim is a marathon runner so I figured I would be picked off first, so I soon braced myself for the inevitable tackle.

However, the tackle never came. For some reason the predator had decided not to pursue us. We fell in the sand, exhausted after just a few minutes of our heart-pounding sprint. And as it turns out, we had run in the right direction. We found ourselves next to a path that led through the cacti and back to the cars. I have never been more relieved to see a parking lot in my life.

So though I was sure I would die at the time, that experience was probably one of the best adventure-stories of my life. I want some more of those. Hopefully, more couchsurfing will instigate a few more of these tales.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States