2019 (BRAD):
Hey there, I'm Brad! Up until this year every time I have Couchsurfed was with my girlfriend during our Gap Year. However, this year I plan on doing a lot of solo travel all over the United States while I work to grow my new digital marketing business. If you are lucky, you will also get to meet Leslie...but she only has so many vacation days each year.

Sure, I like the cost saving benefit of Couchsurfing. Paired with my travel rewards points I can get free flights, free rental cars, and free accommodation. BUT Couchsurfing is so much more than a place to sleep for free. It's a place to connect with like-minded individuals. It's leads to deep conversations and shared cultures. In a matter of minutes a stranger feels like an old friend. I don't think there is a better way to travel than staying with and getting to know a local.

So while I may need time to work on my business each day, I prefer to stay with hosts who are interested in hanging out and getting to know each other. Have time to cook a meal and have a long conversation? I'm down! Want to head out for a hike at your favorite trail? Count me in! Attending an event and can bring a +1? Count me in!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

BRAD and LESLIE:
After dating for 8 years and graduating from Penn State University in 2015, my girlfriend and I took a Gap Year to travel the United States! Over fourteen months we traveled to 29 U.S. States, as well asThailand and Vietnam during a 5-week to Southeast Asia.

We first tried Couchsurfing in Burlington, Vermont, on one of the first trips of our Gap Year. After a phenomenal first-time experience we continued to use CSing along the East Coast (Maine, Charleston, Orlando, New Orleans). However, most of our CSing experience comes from our cross-country road trip from Philadelphia, to Los Angeles, to Seattle, and back to Philadelphia...10,048 miles to be exact.

We have nothing but good things to say about the many people who hosted us during our trips! Not only did they have great recommendations, but we also had a great time hanging out and getting to know them. While we aren't traveling as frequently, we are excited to couchsurf again in the future.

Our Couchsurfing Experiences so far:
-Sept. 13 - 16, 2015: Burlington, Vermont (Emily, Annalena, & Flore)
-Oct. 5 - 9, 2015: Trenton, Maine (Andrew & Brittany)
-Oct. 28 - Nov. 1, 2015: Charleston, South Carolina (Austin)
-Nov. 1 - 3, 2015: Orlando, Florida (Tony)
-Nov. 12 - 14, 2015: New Orleans, Louisiana (A.J.)
-Nov. 20 - 22, 2015: Wilmington, North Carolina (Anna)
-May 7, 2016: Blacksburg, Virginia (Carlie and Dietrich)
-May 8, 2016: Nashville, Tennessee (Owen)
-May 11 - 14, 2016: St. Louis, Missouri (Laurie)
-May 14 - 16, 2016: Kansas City, Missouri (John)
-May 16, 2016: Kansas City, Missouri (Matt)
-June 6, 2016: Crescent City, California (Paul)
-June 13 - 17, 2016: Seattle, Washington (Carlos)
-June 17 - 19, 2016: Boise, Idaho (Kent)
-June 19 - 23, 2016: Park City, Utah (Rob)
-June 23, 2016: Cheyenne, Wyoming (Thomas)
-June 24 - 26, 2016: Lincoln, Nebraska (Cameron)
-June 28 - 1, 2016: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Paul)
-July 5 - 8, 2016: Indianapolis, Indiana (Kanthi)
-October 17, 2018: Barcelona, Spain (CSing Hangout with 13+ people!)
-February 4, 2019: Phoenix, Arizona (Itzel and Xochitl)
-February 10-11, 2019: Phoenix, Arizona (Travis)

Check out our travel blog which we are using to document our Gap Year: www.TwoSidedTravels.com

Interests

Traveling, Visiting New Places, Trying New Foods, Camping, Hiking, Travel Hacking, Blogging

• wine
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• hiking
• camping
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

We are pretty open minded when it comes to music, with very few genres we don't like. Our favorite bands are Dispatch, John Butler Trio, SOJA, Rebelution, Trevor Hall, Slightly Stoopid, Matisyahu, Weezer, Pepper, The Beatles, Twenty-One Pilots, and Vance Joy.

Trying to pick a favorite movie would be entirely too hard. But you cant go wrong with LOTR, Star Wars, Crazy Stupid Love, The Titanic, etc. We also watch entirely too much Netflix and HBO GO (Breaking Bad, Lost, Master of None, etc.).

Brad recently set a new "Read More, Watch Less" goal. So far here is what he has read:
- "Harry Potter" Series (Had to start with the only books I read before turning 21...seriously)
- "The Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod (Yes, I wake up at 5:00am most days)
- "Money: Master The Game" by Tony Robbins / "The Simple Path To Wealth" by J.L. Collins (Working towards FIRE)
- "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
- "This Is Marketing" by Seth Godin
- "Red Rising Trilogy" by Pierce Brown (Red Rising/Golden Son = Finished, Morning Star = Reading Now)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Brad studied abroad twice during our time at Penn State. First he lived in Florence, Italy, for four months during our sophomore year. During his semester abroad he traveled all over Europe to many places including Amsterdam, London, Interlaken, Nice, and Prague.

During spring break of our junior year, Brad returned to Europe to visit the Czech Republic with a class. He spent 10-days between Prague, Brno, and Ostrava.

Teach, Learn, Share

While far from Fluent, Brad does speak some Italian. However, now that he is not studying it anymore he is beginning to forget it. He would love to meet people to speak Italian with!

We are always down to swap stories from our travels! We love to hear where people have been and what they enjoyed the most from their time there.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories from the road, a cheap bottle of wine, and a sense of humor!

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United States