CURRENT MISSION

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list" -- susan sontag

ABOUT ME

I just graduated from UC Santa Cruz and I'm currently blundering through post-grad life trying to trick people into paying me to do "science" fieldwork for them. Really I just want to be outside. If I can somehow work traveling into that equation, even better.

If I like to do anything it's hang out with good company, cook, eat and drink, preferably all at the same time.

I love burritos more than the average person, and I have an irrational fear of fish (I'm working on it). I once stole a hard boiled egg from the Whole Foods salad bar by putting the whole thing in my mouth at once. There. I said it.

I love hanging out with old friends, new friends, whichever and I love to hear peoples stories. A few great people, some good food and some drink and it sounds like a perfect night. I can also go out and get a little crazy, usually come back with some good stories, but things like that have to be balanced with some good alone time reading (or watching netflix and internet shopping...)

PHILOSOPHY

yeah it's good to stop and smell the roses every once in a while, but it's better to stop and yell "yes! life is awesome!"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm just getting started, lots of plans and grand ideas. Most of these grand ideas require couches to sleep on.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couch surfed in Mexico several times and had a blast

Interests

If it involves camping, backpacking or hiking I'm there in a second. Some of the best times I've had were sitting around a campfire after a long day of hiking. I love that stuff. Anything to do with nature, especially plants, and I'm all over it.

I also love food and everything about it, going to the grocery store, preparing it, growing it, cooking it, even just looking at it can be pretty fun too. I'm always happy to cook and to learn how to make new dishes and enjoy them with friends.

Traveling is obviously also a main interest of mine and I like to take every opportunity I can to see somewhere new. Whether it's a short weekend trip to a town I've never seen, or an extended adventure there's a ton of stuff to see.

• fish
• dining
• cooking
• drinking
• shopping
• reading
• traveling
• fishing
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: For some reason the only movies that come to mind right now are James Bond movies. I don't even like them that much, they're pretty good don't get me wrong, but I'm having a Bond-induced mental movie block.

Alright I think the mental block is over. I'm also a big fan of almost famous, fight club, into the wild, forgetting sarah marshall, superbad, batman (seriously batman's awesome, princess mononoke (and a ton of miyazaki movies), star wars. Ew, that list isn't very satisfying, I'm sure there's more.

Also, I've seen the Notebook more times than I should admit on a public forum.

I'm also a big fan of documentaries (yup, i'm that guy). Put anything narrated by David Attenborough on and I'm in heaven. A strange, strange heaven where an old english man talks to you about plants and nocturnal animal behavior.

As for music, I'm big on a lot of different thins but if i had to sum it up genre wise I'd say I like the blues, bluegrass, folk-y kind of stuff (kind of?) and of course, classic rock. I always hate saying that, "classic rock" sounds so like something your friend's dad says to you to try and sound cool before he puts on a rolling stones album. But then you realize the rolling stones are on and they're great so life's good.

On the book front, I've been in a nonfiction funk recently (again, yeah I'm that guy). Before that I was reading anything by Vonnegut, Twain and Steinbeck, Palanhuik or however that guy spells his name, Bret Easton Ellis and Bill Bryson. Tina Fey's Bossypants. The glass castle by Walls is one of my favorites too, for whatever reason. Also my favorite book of all time is the golden compass. Never saw the movie because I didn't want to ruin it.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Fortunately for me I've done a lot of amazing things. Unforunately for this question, there are too many that I'm thinking of to give a good answer.

One that stands out is the time I spent in Alaska, I was going to say a specific memory like backpacking in Denali or hiking in the Chugach range but really everything in Alaska was quite literally the definition of awesome. Everything there is so. damn. big.

Teach, Learn, Share

Cooking, science stuff, random factoids you didn't even know you wanted to know.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States