When I was growing up I made candles out of old wine bottles, had chickens, and spent hours damming up little creeks hoping that one day I’d have my own private natural swimming pool.

I LOVE playing sports, and love being competitive. I ran cross country in college, have played soccer since I was 5, hold a few trail run records in Hawaii, rock climb, ski, and too many other sports to name.

In college I believe I did 3 great things.
1. I made a Jar of Awesome. I decorated a repurposed jar of peanut butter and everyday wrote on a small piece of paper something great that happened. The idea behind it, is that everyday something great happens. However, the likelihood of me remembering it is very small. I just wanted to remember all of those small great moments. I purely wanted to remember the small but often great moments that happen everyday.
2. I started reading and every time I read something that hit me, instead of highlighting or dog earing my books, I started a journal and wrote it down. I now have everything impactful I’ve ever read all in one place. This is my most prized possession.
3. I started journaling. I realized when I’m with other people, I’m cognizant to not be on my phone, and to give them my full attention, etc. On the flip side, when I’m by myself (with myself), I’m scrolling on my phone, watching tv, not giving myself the respect of attention I desire. Journaling has been a way for me to catch up with myself. When I open up my journal, I’m asking myself, “Hey, how ya doing? It’s been a bit since we’ve talked. Let’s catch up.”

3 months after graduating college, I moved to Hawaii. I did Hawaii things- macheted 100’s of coconuts, hand shaped a surfboard, work traded at a dive shop to scuba for free, travelled to all the other islands, sailed to remote sandbars (I’m still a terrible sailor), acted as background in the local T.V. show Magnum P.I. and Disney Plus’s show Doogie Kamealoha, spearfished to provide food for a bbq, played beach volleyball from sunrise to sunset, volunteered countless hours in waist deep thick dark mud to grow, plant, and harvest taro, and of course learned the ukulele.

A fear I have is living too comfortable of a life where I don’t appreciate the simple things anymore. I once deprived myself of a proper bed, refrigerator, freezer, anything to cook with (heat things up) and many other things for 4 months so I could come out the other end stoked about the simple things.

I came up with my life moto in college when I spent hours thinking about what I desire. I concluded that what I truly wanted was...great experiences with great people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

2 Reasons.

1. I hope to accelerate my appreciation of the places I visit by creating a connection with someone who knows the local culture, history, and people. It’s a much more gratifying experience for me.

2. The opportunity to be interested and interesting. I want to listen to stories. I want to tell stories. I want to share what I can.

Interests

• traveling
• camping
• surfing
• snowboarding
• trail running
• climbing
• free diving
• beach volleyball
• slacklining
• playing the piano
• playing the ukulule

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Alternative/Indie. Mt. Joy, Quinn XCII, Surfaces, The Vaccines, James Taylor, Jack Johnson, Post Malone

Books: The Third Door, Atomic Habits, Never Split the Difference, Into Thin Air, The Glass Castle

Movies/TV Shows: The Alpinist, The Dawn Wall, Despicable Me, Intersteller, How I Met Your Mother, Frasier, Cheers

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I work for a nonprofit called Keiki and Plow. We educate kids on sustainable farming practices.

There I started and created a worm composting site. Instead of putting food scraps in a traditional hot compost pile, you feed your food scraps to worms. They digest it and make the #1 best thing you can give to your plants. To me it feels like magic. To take something that people call “food waste”, and turn it into a “food resource” is so powerful.

We started with 500 worms, and 1 bin. We now have roughly 20,000 worms, have 2 bins, 16 mini pods.

Worm composting has become an integral part of the farm education material. I have also led workshops on how to compost with worms where guests leave with a fully functioning worm bin created by me!

I find all of this so amazing and important because in the U.S. about 20% of garbage is food waste. That means 20% of what we throw away can be recycled into something that is valuable, and diverted from the landfill. It’s magic if you ask me…

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to build a small worm composting bin in your kitchen that doesn’t even smell
Make world class caffeine free herbal teas from little known but easy plants to grow
How to make a lei, or a flower necklace
How to make cake in a coffee mug in 5 minutes

What I Can Share with Hosts

I’m happy to help do chores, if you have any plants needing tending to I’ve spent the last 2 years studying sustainable farming, I make a great homemade salsa, and have stories and recommendations for visiting Hawaii.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland