ABOUT ME

i'm just a curious and thoughtful old soul with a desire to see more of the world. call me Miq!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

i'm new here, just hosted my first surfer recently, i'm trying to learn how to be a good host and how to meet people from all different backgrounds on their level! i hope to be doing a lot of surfing of my own later this year when i backpack thru europe and morocco, so share with me your tips and experiences!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

had a roommate once who hosted somebody years ago. that's it!

Interests

i'm a big sports fan, love watching Baseball, Basketball, and American Football. i snowboard in the winter and in the summer i play volleyball and ride my motorcycle often. i like to stay in shape and eat relatively healthy, but i'm not opposed to a whiskey cocktail or a couple light beers on occasion. i am also very interested in music. i used to be a singer/songwriter and i still pick up the guitar on occasion, but am more content in just finding new artists to listen to these days. i also love to travel, although i have not been to nearly as many places as many people i know, or as many places as i'd like to by this stage in my life.

• concerts
• dining
• breakfast
• beer
• cocktails
• mexican food
• vegetarian
• fitness
• partying
• drinking
• pub crawls
• traveling
• socializing
• bouldering
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• surfing
• snowboarding
• sports
• baseball
• basketball
• cricket
• american football
• soccer
• volleyball
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Well I like to make my own music...
www.soundcloud.com/wePhilistines
and I like to make my own videos too...
www.vimeo.com/brandonmiq
and i like to write...
www.wePhilistines.com

Teach, Learn, Share

people ask me what to do in Denver often, so i put together this little crash-course if you find yourself in this wonderful city and you don't know what to do...

there is a LOT you can do in this city, especially in the summer months. everyone wants to be outside, all the time, and you will notice that pretty quickly. if you're looking for some quick easy hikes, there is some really good accessible stuff up in Boulder at chautaqua national park, only about a 30 minute drive from downtown denver. definitely check that out if you just want a 3 hour hike with a great view at the end. if you want something a little more substantial, go to 14ers.com and check out the abundance of 14,000 peaks that are all within driving distance of denver (but these are much more grueling and may be a bit more demanding of your fitness and oxygenation abilities.

for music, the best venue is easily Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in Morrison (i'll actually be there that tuesday night, august 5th, for a chromeo concert). getting tickets to a show last minute could be rough, but this is the best outdoor venue in the world, hands down. other smaller/more affordable venues in denver are: The Gothic, The Bluebird, The Ogden, the Fillmore, and then a handful of divey garageband type places sprinkled around. there's a great music scene in denver, but it's not really a great place for hip/hop. just not a big scene here for it. if you like indie artists or bluegrass or jam bands or singer/songwriter types though... we've got it.

beer. denver does beer better than anyone. craft beer, independent operations with tiny bars or tasting rooms. it's here. rent a bicycle and do a little pub crawl. but if you're downtown, finding bars should be pretty damn easy. good local microbrew bars in the area: Great Divide, Breckenridge, Wynkoop...

Rockies game. Coors field is gorgeous, and even tho our team sucks, people still love to go to the baseball game and drink. pro tip: buy a "rock pile ticket" for like $5, then don't even go to your seat. head straight up to the right field nose-bleeds where we have a new "party deck." it's seriously a bar at a baseball field with tons of people just hanging out drinking, with a baseball game in the background. doesn't cost anything to get in either. even if you don't want to drink, just hang out and enjoy the view/weather.

food... there is so much good food in this city. i could go broke eating at all the fantastic places around here. kinda depends on what your preferences are and where you are, but some places off the top of my head (these places are not really for people on a budget, i'll list those later)... Larimer Square is a 1-block haven for the nicest restaurants in Denver downtown. some of my fave places there are Osteria Marco, TAG, Ocean Prime for a good steak, Green Russell for the best expensive cocktails with a "speakeasy" theme, Tom's 24 for late night gourmet food. that's just all on larimer. there's also a ton of other random awesome places that are always sprouting up. a little closer to the northern end of downtown, in the "5 points" area is a great spot called "Work & Class," great locally sourced food served in share portions, and reasonably priced, no reservations allowed, 1st come 1st serve. in the Highlands neighborhood just on the other side of the freeway i can think of some cool spots... Linger, RootDown, Williams & Graham (for more speakeasy style cocktails), Forest Room 5 (hipster bar)... i could do this all day.
for food on a budget: Denver does burritos. Chipotle started here (the 1st one ever is in the DU neighborhood, on evans street), and there are at least 2 knockoffs that are still pretty good. my fave is illegal pete's (there are 4 or 5 in the denver area), due to a superior atmosphere. try it out, it's cheap and filling! note: if you're a mexican food enthusiast from cali or texas, this isn't your style of mexican food. go back home and brag to someone else. we don't care.
pizza is decent in this town. i'm a big believer in NY style or nothing, but if you want to try "Colorado style pizza" check out Beau-Jo's. some people swear by it, even if i don't. 1 cool thing about it though is that after you're done with the pie, you dip your crust in the honey they have at the table. yeah, it's weird. anyway, Sexy Pizza is also good, as is Walnut Room (which also has a cool concert venue at their downtown location. good vibe here). Masterpiece Deli for a great sandwich with a view. Best burger in town is the Cherry Cricket.
best breakfast is easily snooze, but other places won't make you wait as long: root down, Jelly cafe,
best vegetarian is City O' City. Watercourse is also good.
best taces: Pinche Tacos
best ice cream: it's a tie between Sweet Action on south broadway, and Little Man ice cream up in the highlands neighborhood.

and then if you want to work all that food off, go to Washington Park. it's a public park, and it really is my favorite place to hang out on the weekends. great vibe, lots of active people everywhere, the weather is always nice there, even when it's raining, and the people watching is perfect.

there you have it. there's my crash-course of denver if you don't have your own guide. i'll add more to this later when i have time!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Peru, Philippines, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States