CURRENT MISSION

Give back to the global community as much as it has given me

ABOUT ME

I was born and raised in San Francisco's Bay Area and called Berkeley my home for my university years. My hippie-ish parents (they won't admit to it) raised me to be a free thinker and Berkeley reinforced that.

At the age of 17 I discovered electronic music and the rave scene and became a DJ, which helped put me through school and boosted my ego much more than I really needed. After graduation I finally left the US and experienced Europe and the glory of hitchhiking. I also fell in love with volcanoes, and parked myself in Hawaii to commune with the goddess Pele.

However, the song of the road beckoned and drew me as far as India on a fourteen month bare-bones journey. By that time, my girlfriend back in Hawaii threatened to disown me, so I reluctantly returned. That lasted for a mere twelve months, and I looked to the east for new roads to wander. Four months in Southeast Asia proved to be a mere scratch on the surface, but the prospect of employment in Antarctica again drew me back to my homeland.

I got the job, and after a side trip to Central America where I fell in love with an old friend, soon to be my wife, and I took a long ride south, to work on the frozen continent during the Austral Summer. I ended up spending four seasons there, with jaunts to South America, Asia, and Hawaii in between. Now I'm back home in Berkeley working as an engineer for a solar installer and loving it. Domestic life isn't so bad and now I can finally be a host!

Latest update - I have a son! He's a year old already! Life has changed, no doubt.

PHILOSOPHY

So long as you're happy and not making others unhappy, life is good. Do what you can to keep it that way. Don't get caught up in the negativity of the world, because so much of the positive is overlooked. Just smile, and you'll see someone smile back.
Never let go of your dreams! Follow them to the sweet end!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Just trying to get back in the game, slowly...

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

All over the world, from mud huts to luxury hotels. Human hospitality never ceases to amaze me.

Interests

meeting people, understanding cultures, music, religion, rock climbing, cooking, hitch hiking, walking, correcting grammar, spinning records, getting lost, writing, observing, dancing, babbling on and on, listening, spontaneity, welding, operating heavy equipment.

• writing
• dancing
• cooking
• walking
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• electronic music
• hiking
• rock climbing
• engineering
• religion
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence; Brave New World; Cosmos; Chaos; The Alchemist; Europe from a Backpack; Wanderlust; Guns, Germs, & Steel; Brave New World; Hunger Games; Pastwatch; Ender's Game

Websites: www.homestarrunner.com; www.dieselsweeties.com; www.hospitalityclub.org; http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/update/main.html

Food: Indian; Thai; Italian; Mexican; Asian Buddhist

Movies: Matrix; Truman Show; Punch Drunk Love; Jackie Brown; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; The Breakfast Club; Amelie

Music: Carl Cox; Led Zeppelin; John Selway; Blies Brothers; Transglobal Underground; Snoop Dogg; Beastie Boys; Stevie Ray Vaughn, Frank Zappa; DJ Shadow; Taylor; LTJ Bukem; Gabriel; Pink Floyd; Dub Star All Stars; NOFX; Anabolic Frolic; Skatalites; The Black Dog

Artists: Ansel Adams; Salvador Dali; Hundertwasser

Most Impressive Sights: Lava flows in Hawaii, Buddha in Bodhgaya, India; Yosemite Valley; Dali's Museum in Figures, Spain; View from the World Trade Center; Dog trucks crossing the Lao-Vietnam border.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent an afternoon at Round Mountain in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Stunning.
I fixed a car that picked me up in Cambodia.
I watched the birth of the Earth at Kilauea volcano.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hitchhiking-It's my passion and I work every day trying to further it.

Volcanoes-I love them!

Engineering-It's what I went to school for and keeps my brain happy.

Antarctica-My second (third?) home and I'm happy to answer all your cool questions.

And I'm happy to help any travel newbies that don't know who or what to ask!

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Antarctica, United States

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