CURRENT MISSION

Finding a balance between roots and wings

ABOUT ME

In a nutshell: Ben and I were born and raised in the Midwest of the United States. We met at Iowa State University and got married in Iowa. We lived in Texas for 3 years, traveled the world for a year, lived in Bangkok with Deenaree's relatives for a year, moved to New Jersey for a couple of years and had our son. We moved to St. John's in Newfoundland, Canada in the summer of 2013 and had our second son in 2014. We left Newfoundland after five amazing years in 2018, moved to England and immediately had our third child. We are looking forward to what this chapter has in store.

We have a great interest in exploring places that we would never get to see as tourists, which is why we're very excited to be a part of the CS network.

PHILOSOPHY

For what it's worth, it's never too late, or in my case too early - to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit; stop whenever you want. You can change, or stay the same - there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. (From Benjamin Button)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXhkiGp498

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have been both hosts and surfers before the birth of our son and we enjoyed every moment of every experience. We have been eager to participate again - especially in hosting. Hopefully, we'll be settled in one place long enough to offer you a couch!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We have truly enjoyed being hosts to fantastic guests from all around the world. We have surfed with and gotten to know some wonderful people on our trip.

We have hosted:
Wade from USA - October 2008
Michael from Germany - October 2008
Ans from Germany - October 2008
Ken from USA - November 2008
Pablo from Puerto Rico/South Korea - December 2008
Ryan from USA - January 2009
Elizabeth and Justinian from USA - February 2009
Doug and Kirsten from USA - July 2009
Jessica from USA - September 2013
Eitan from Canada/Israel - October 2013
Carolin from Germany - September 2014
Tom from Canada - June 2015
Iris from Netherlands - June 2015
Colleen from USA - June 2015
Gerry, Rowena, Malia, Graham and David from Canada - June 2015
Diana, Will, Sierra and Maya from Canada - July 2015
Jen and Mike from Scotland - August 2015
Erin from USA - August 2015
Alex from Germany - January 2016
Abby and Adam from USA - March 2016
Sabine from Canada/India - April 2016
Brendan, Amanda Eve and Tarin from Canada - April 2016
Nick from Australia - April 2016
Georgia from Canada - May 2016
Monika from Poland - May 2016
Emma from Scotland - May 2016
Kaja and Mike from Canada/Poland - May 2016
Ninja and Ashani from USA - June 2016
Tom (again) from Canada - June 2016
Simona from Czech Republic - July 2016
Kera from Canada - July 2016
Viki from Germany - July 2016
Melanie from Canada - July 2016
Florence and Jacqueline from Canada/Egypt/Belgium - July 2016
Vojta and Izumo from Czech Republic/Japan - July 2016
Sophie from Canada - July 2016
Ha My and Andy from Switzerland/Germany - July 2016
Emma and Le from Canada/Vietnam - August 2016
Peter from Germany - August 2016
Ambrose from China - September 2016
Elena and Dennis from Germany - September 2016
Penny from Canada - September 2016
Nathalie and Laurence from Canada - September 2016
Naomi and Irma from Canada - September 2016
Liam and Normand (via Clare) from Canada - September 2016
Agata and Kevin from Canada - September 2016
Hannes from Germany - October 2016
Alexandra, Carolin and Christina from Germany - October 2016
Alice and mom from Canada - December 2016
Karo from Germany - January 2017
Annie from Canada - March 2017
Rafaelle, Sarah and Marie-Claude from Canada - March 2017
Marie from France - April 2017
Tanya and Janet from Canada - April 2017
Saskia, Thorsten and Ute from Germany - April 2017
Christin from Germany - May 2017
Emily and Richard from UK - May 2017
Emma and Dave from UK - May 2017
Laura and Clement from UK/France - May 2017
Daniel from Germany - May 2017
Maureen from St. Pierre et Miquelon - May 2017 and February 2018
Dwayne from UK - May 2017
Anja from Germany - June 2017
Melodie from Canada - June 2017
Peter from Canada - June 2017
Jacob from UK - June 2017
Kathryn from Australia - June/July 2017
Nadia from Canada - July 2017
Lukas from Germany - July 2017
Fumika from Japan - July 2017
Maike from Germany - July 2017
Aarron from Canada - July 2017
Cleo from Canada - July 2017
David from USA - July 2017
Corey and B from Canada - August 2017
Daniela and Noemi from Germany - August 2017
Chris and Cait from Canada - August 2017
Phoebe, Matt and Ricardo from Portugal/UK - August 2017
Nusrat and Martha from Canada - August 2017
Maxime from Canada - August 2017
Alberto from Spain - August 2017
Ashley from Canada - August 2017
Jessica and Side from Canada - September 2017
Vince from France - September 2017
Marie from Switzerland - September 2017
Zuzana from Slovakia - September 2017
Pamela, Blair and Lacey from Australia/Canada - September 2017
Jordan and Amy from Wales - September 2017
Anna from Canada - October 2017
Sam from Scotland - January 2018
Kevin from Italy - March 2018
Christian and Jess from Australia - May 2018

We have surfed with:
Sam and Ryan in USA - December 2008
Marziya in Tobago - September 2009
Michael in Trinidad - September 2009
Gustavo in Mexico - September 2009
Rose in Mexico - September 2009
Magally (and Ricardo) in Mexico - September 2009
Roger in Panama - September 2009
Alejandra in Ecuador - October 2009
Diego in Ecuador - October 2009
Luigi in Peru - November 2009
Rodrigo in Peru - November 2009
Ronald in Bolivia - November 2009
Javier in Argentina - December 2009
Sandra in Paraguay - December 2009
Silvina in Argentina - December 2009
Cris and Leo in Argentina - December 2009
Rikus in South Africa - January 2010
Sifiso in South Africa - January 2010
Dawn in Egypt - January 2010
Ali in Jordan - January/February 2010
Gili and Iddo in Israel - February 2010
Miriam in Israel - February 2010
Bianca and Werner in Syria - February 2010
Salvatore in Turkey - February 2010
Mehmet in Turkey - March 2010
Taskin and Sabriye in Turkey - March 2010
Ben in France - March 2010
Maxx and Isa in France - March 2010
Germain in France - April 2010
Oliver in Germany - April 2010
Johannes in Germany - April 2010
Caroline and Julien in Greece - April/May 2010
Anastassia, George, Irene and Johnny in Greece - May 2010
Mira and Ventse in Bulgaria - May 2010
Srebrin in Bulgaria - May 2010
Andra and Razvan in Romania - May 2010
Adina and Mircea in Romania - May/June 2010
Pawel and Kate in Poland - June 2010
Kate and Leo in Poland - June 2010
Andrzej and Ewa in Poland - June 2010
Dovile and Jaunius in Lithuania - June 2010
Sniezana and Vladas in Lithuania - July 2010
Mara and Juris in Latvia - July 2010
Michael and Jill in USA - September 2011
Alicia and Derek in Canada - February 2016

Interests

BEN: Golf (and golf courses), sports, movies, novels, food, Geocaching, traveling, road trips, music, politics, opinions, and really just about anything else that someone can sell me on

DEENAREE: Traveling, teaching, reading, movies, dancing, trying food from all over the world, learning to cook and bake, watching movies, and volunteering.

• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• politics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• sports
• golf
• teaching
• engineering
• volunteering
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

BEN
Movies: Seven, American History X, Snatch, Citizen Kane, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Away We Go, Get Out(!!!!!)
Music: Fiona Apple, Greg Brown, System of a Down, Blue October, Finger Eleven, Live
Books: The Magnificent Ambersons, The Magus, David Copperfield

DEENAREE
Movies: When Harry Met Sally, The Family Man, Little Miss Sunshine, The Devil Wears Prada, Pride and Prejudice
Music: Blue October, Adele, Ingrid Michaelson, and any other artist that brings something different to the table
Books: The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Something Missing, Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, A Man Called Ove

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Ben: I have been blessed to have more than I can possibly list or remember. I can say I am momentarily amazed every time I am in an airplane and it takes off. The things we can do!
Deenaree: It's been quite a ride since Ben and I met in 2002 and now we're blessed with our sons. Every moment leading up to now has been full of amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Ben: Can explain the ins and outs of American sports (especially golf) and structural engineering concepts.

Deenaree: English language teacher, enthusiastic learner of new recipes (especially healthy and easy ones), and a big movie buff. I can also share some tips on finding bargains in the parenting/baby stuff department.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Thailand, United States

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