CURRENT MISSION

I want to see places in the world from a local's perspective...

ABOUT ME

I love to travel to far off, exotic places. I have lived in several countries while growing up. I enjoy cooking and eating good food and meeting interesting people and would like to visit some new places and revisit some familiar places. I love spaghetti, all things Italian-especially women, the way that Brazilians play soccer, a perfect slide tackle, ice cold beer, the nike swoosh, wienerschnitzel, America the beautiful, Orangina, Manner Schnitten, mozartkugeln, a nice Pinot Noir, the Braves, the Dawgs, the Steelers, and my dog Beckham. I love to travel to far-off exotic places and have been all over the place. I've lived in Japan, Germany and Austria and just recently returned from a trip to Italy and the Slovenian coast. I'd like to go back to Croatia again and probably will this summer. I have a great appreciation for all kinds of music... although this doesn't apply to most "country" music. I like playing soccer and watching football. I love the sunshine, positive people and I appreciate both. While these are some of the things I love, it certainly does not fill the bucket on what I'm all about. I hate rudeness, stupidity and pretentiousness, and I can't stand slow drivers... but it gives me plenty of practice on staying calm and maintaining my cool.

PHILOSOPHY

I like to be around positive, decent, intelligent people. I love to laugh and learn, but not while sitting in a classroom. I like to do things my way and am not interested in people telling me what to do. When I travel, I don't generally like to walk around with a flock of other people; I much prefer to venture out on my own to explore.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I would like to contribute in the best way possible. I am open to trying new things and think this is a great opportunity to see the world while at the same time give something back in return.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have hosted more than I have "surfed" but I am absolutely looking forward to continue hosting as well as finding nice couches abroad.

Interests

eating, drinking, cooking, sports, traveling, exploring, relaxing, observing, taking pictures, people watching, open to new experiences...
I'm a huge soccer fan, particularly of Brazil and Italy. I've also been a life-long fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm interested in intelligent people/conversation. I like photography and have taken some amazing photos, but only very special people get to lay their eyes on these. I love to cook but of course I love to eat too. I enjoy sleeping but I do not like having to go to sleep. Does that make sense? I can tell you what kind of person you are just by looking at your face for ten seconds. Believe it. I enjoy playing sports but I'm also a supremely gifted procrastinator, and I enjoy doing both. Figure that one out.

• dogs
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• drinking
• traveling
• music
• sports
• soccer

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES: The Intouchables, Looking for Eric, Once Upon A Time in the West, The Third Man, The Dirty Dozen, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Do the Right Thing, Amadeus, Fletch, The Usual Suspects, Bugsy Malone, Pulp Fiction, Rounders, Office Space, The Last of the Mohicans, Mediterraneo, Scent of a Woman, Mean Machine, Muriel's Wedding, Dazed and Confused, The Rock, A Knight's Tale, High Fidelity, There's Something About Mary, Mr. Bean's Holiday, Little Miss Sunshine, Cast Away

MUSIC: Eros Ramazzotti, Gypsy Kings, Disturbed, Chevelle, Jack Johnson, New Order, Coldplay, Keane, Queen, Yello, Jimmy Buffett, Van Morrison, 3 Doors Down, Fatboy Slim, Pet Shop Boys, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Moby, David Gray, the "Bens"... Folds and Harper, Johnny Lang, Shakira, Kelly Clarkson, Shinedown, Gorillaz, Abba, Eurythmics, Yo Yo Ma doin' his thing, Ravel's "Bolereo", anything by Rossini, Mozart, Johann Strauss, Andrea Bocelli singing "Con te Partiro", Anna Netrebko, Dimitri Hvorostovsky, Bond, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, Peter Gabriel, The Cranberries, Cake, The Police, War, The Killers, Jet, Real McCoy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Stripes, Chevelle, UB40, Shaggy, Bob Marley, Elton John, Prince, Phil Collins, early Pearl Jam, old Guns N Roses, The Corrs, Lisa Loeb, Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Jan Hammer, Barthezz, Ibiza chillout, down tempo grooves, Zero Seven, Jem, Yaz, Dido, Mandalay, Vienna Teng, Imogen Heap, The Cure, ATB, Blank & Jones, Tiesto, Topmodelz, Basshunter, Barthezz, Barcode Brothers, Enigma, Dario G, Gigi d'agostino, DJ Encore, Paul Van Dyk, even Marshall Tucker and Lynrd Skynrd... there's so much more to list here; it all just depends on my mood.

BOOKS: Adventure Capitalist, When will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, How Soccer Explains the World, anything by Dinesh D'Souza, Michelle Malkin, Christopher Hitchens, and of course good cookbooks

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

NAPLES, Italy comes to mind... just beautiful chaos... anyone who has been there knows what I'm talking about!

Teach, Learn, Share

I am an expert on where to go, eat, drink, and be merry in Vienna, Austria.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Germany, Japan, United States

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