CURRENT MISSION

I just retired (young) so I could enjoy my years of hard work. In addition to enjoying the fruits of my labor, I want to make a positive impact on the lives of others

ABOUT ME

We are a married couple in our 40's/50's. We recently retired after successful careers in high tech so we could enjoy life; we had so tired of the corporate world. We don't have kids but we have a great little dog. We built a "green" off-the-grid vacation home that we rent out for some income. We do community volunteer work and child advocacy and we travel. We enjoy doing home exchanges.

PHILOSOPHY

I'll quote the poet Blake: "All you endure and do depends as much on circumstance as you". Another favorite: "we challenge our traditions because truth without questioning is false".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We just joined so don't have anything to put here yet.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We just did a home exchange in Germany for 2 months and while there we CS'ed in Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and the Black Forest. We met amazing people that we will stay in touch with and hopefully host in California. We've now hosted a couple from New Zealand, a couple from France, and a man from the North Bay. Great experiences with all.

Interests

obviously traveling and meeting people from all over! Tod has lived abroad and Barrie has traveled to every state in the US plus every continent except Antarctica. We have been exchange students and we've hosted exchange students. We enjoy hiking, cooking, wine, the arts, great conversation, and working towards a sustainable planet.

• dogs
• arts
• cooking
• wine
• technology
• traveling
• volunteer work
• socializing
• hiking
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

we are avid readers. Tod enjoys science fiction and anthing to do with environmental issues. Barrie reads fiction and non fiction. We enjoy independent and foreign films. We don't watch TV; we are NPR addicts (National Public Radio). We just went to Russia so I'm reading an interesting book about Catherine the Great. Barrie's dad was a professional jazz musician so she was weaned on jazz. We love good rock, and Puccini's operas.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got my motorcycle license at the age of 47. There was only 1 other woman in the class. I'm proud of that. One of the most amazing places I've seen is the Galapagos Islands. I'm a Darwinist so it was truly amazing to be there. For Tod, designing and building our off-the-grid lake house was an amazing thing. Seeing a baby Elephant Seal being born literally in front of my eyes was amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Tod has amazing knowledge and skill in building "green". He designed our off-the-grid systems at our vacation home himself including rain water capture, etc. Barrie is extremely well-traveled and knows a bit about a lot of cultures.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Russian Federation, Seychelles, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, United Kingdom, United States

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