Not Accepting Guests
- Last login over 9 years ago
Join Couchsurfing to see Ben’s full profile.
Overview
About Me
CURRENT MISSION
Avoiding real life (a job) as long as I can while racking up air, ground, and sea miles
ABOUT ME
Born and raised in Fairfield, CA (a not-so-lil' suburb in between San Francisco and Sacramento). Engineering degrees (BS/MS) at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and internships and a future job in the Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA) come September.
In the meantime, it's a race against the clock and my wallet. I'm currently living in San Sebastian, Spain where I work with my buddy Hermes (he's a robot) and help on English projects to subsidize my debauchery in Spain.
I'd like to think that I'm reasonably intelligent and reasonably good at most things (but an expert at nothing - see my Ph.D.). I'm also an active Redditor (well, mostly lurker, but I've got a few posts as well :))
I've been to five concerts in my life (in order): Britney Spears, Kanye West, The Fray, Maroon 5, and Rhapsody [of Fire]; I'd like to think that the variety in my concerts is representative of my overall interests - also quite varied :)
Seguing...
I've got pipe dreams to visit all of the rest of Europe and almost any other country that will accept me without a visa (or with a very easy one) before I start working in September. Tops on my list:
- All of Europe
- North Korea
- Tibet
- Japan
- South Korea
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Chile
I've been to China three times (once to work), lived in Valladolid, Spain in 2008, been to France, Belgium, England, and to ~30 of the States. Here's to quintupling that number before September.
PHILOSOPHY
Enjoy life without hurting others (emotionally, physically, indirectly, etc.). That's all.
Why I’m on Couchsurfing
HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING
I sprinted around Europe after an internship in Spain, spending about half my time Couchsurfing, and the other half under bridges/cardboard boxes (kidding...). Now looking to give back since I have a full time job and won't be leaving my perch for a while.
COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE
So far, just surfing, but the experiences have all been excellent. Video games and cliff running in Edinburgh, wandering the streets of Berlin with beer in hand, and chillin' in the master bedroom in a 2 story apartment in Athens, just to name a few.
Interests
Anything and everything (generic, yea I know, but i'm f'reals!)
Some of my specialties:
- Ping pong/table tennis (no joke)
- Halo (3) and Call of Duty
- Golf
- Magic the Gathering
- Robotics
- Reasonably intelligent discussions
- Reddit
I will absolutely try (and therefore be interested in) any sport (just tried padel the other day!) and nearly any food (I can't think of something I WON'T try, to be honest).
- concerts
- dining
- beer
- running
- video games
- magic
- cycling
- spelunking
- surfing
- sports
- tennis
- table tennis
- golf
- computer science
- engineering
- science
Music, Movies, and Books
Books:
The Girl who... series (you know, the one by Stieg Larsson
Music:
Eminem above all, but also lots of rap (Kanye, Tupac, TI, Rick Ross) and hard(er) rock (Disturbed, Sixx AM)
Movies:
Anything with enough action or comedy to make the plot secondary
One Amazing Thing I’ve Done
Giant's Causeway and Cliffs of Moher in Ireland (Northern and Republic of, respectively). Great Wall in China. Caving in Budapest. Death Road on bike in Bolivia. Machu Picchu in Peru.
Teach, Learn, Share
Definitely have more to learn than to teach, but a reasonable amount to share.
I've got a Masters in Computer Science (emphasis in robotics) and a BS in Computer Engineering (both from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (California). I almost lost a $50k underwater robot finishing my degree last December :P
Countries I’ve Visited
Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Countries I’ve Lived In
China, Spain, United States