CURRENT MISSION

Continue the traveling spirit, even when living at home

ABOUT ME

I am a fairly laid back american (although I was born in england). It's hard for me to describe who I am. I always feel a bit like two people. Which is represented in both my personaly and my heritage (english born, raised by english parents, but in America almost all of my life).

On one side I am a fairly intellectual scientist. I like math, biology, and chemistry, not a huge fan of physics. I like things to be ordered and in there proper place. I love to solve problems especially logic ones. I'm a huge fan of in-depth conversations on any topic. Some people call me argumentative but I love a good debate. I don't take things personally but I love to get into heated debates about anything!

On the other side I love letting go. Being a little crazy and relaxing. This is harder for me to do (except if i'm on the other side of a few drinks), but I really enjoy it. I find that certain people are better at bringing this side out of me, its one of the reasons I love my girlfriend Kylie. She's able to make me crazy. I love it.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm trying to push my limits on what I am comfortable with. Keeping trying to break through my personal limitations is a large part of what couchsurfing and traveling is all about for me.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm going to take this as how I travel.

I like to travel rough. I pack light, eat light, and spend little. I don't need much to be comfortable. But I also know when its worth it to spend the money.

I love getting lost in cities, exploring with a map. I like to make sure I have time in every city where I don't know where I am going to go and I just wonder. Using this technique in Paris I found an amazing Picasso museum, a cool square, an obelisk, and free wifi (had to register for classes...). I don't like taking public transport, i'd prefer to walk or bike, even if it will take 30 min. I'm traveling. I'm not in a rush.

I try to move this to my life, but its difficult.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Met a couchsurfer surfing behind my house a year a go. He was great to hang out with. Would love to meet more travelers!

So Kylie and I hosted a few people in our tiny studio. It was really cool to meet fellow travelers. My favorite experience so far was when Myriam (an irish girl) came down spontanously on Saint Pattys day. Kylie and I had nothing planned as we both had a lot to do the next day, but she persuaded us to go out on the town. We had a great night, and ended up dancing till they kicked us out of the local Irish bar.

So couchsurfing gives me a little bit of the traveling mentality even when I'm at home.

Interests

I'm a big fan of watching sports, although this has been a bad year for my teams.
Manchester United had one of its worst seasons in decades, San Jose Sharks crashed out of the playoffs in the first round, 49ers lost a brutal game to the Seahawks.

So now I'm trying to play a few more! I love playing soccer, hockey and volleyball. Currently there are no teams near me but when I move later this year I hope to move somewhere that I can.

I also enjoy more weather related sports like sailing and snowboarding. I've been racing dinghys for about 5 years now and having a blast. I'm also a fairly good snowboarder (Blacks and double blacks)

I also love a good hike. I used to do two navigational based sports: Orienteering and Spot-me-360. The former is a short distance race to check points in a forest or urban enviornment. The latter is a long distance (14-20km) day long 'race' to different check points. My favorite was in desolation and involved swimming to an island!

But on the day to day I enjoy trying to learn new languages (using duolingo... probably not frequently enough), watching TV, and playing videogames.

When I can persuade people to go out I love a good beer, cocktail, or wine. And if I'm feeling energetic I love to dance like an idiot. Kylie and I just began to learn salsa and I suck so far but hopefully I will improve.

• dancing
• wine
• beer
• cocktails
• drinking
• tv
• traveling
• watching sports
• cycling
• hiking
• spelunking
• surfing
• sailing
• snowboarding
• sports
• soccer
• hockey
• volleyball
• swimming
• biology
• chemistry
• languages
• logic
• mathematics
• physics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Game of thrones, Enders Game, Catch-22, and any other good fiction.

I love all kinds of music, especially if it is up-beat.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the experiences that pops to mind is a Caving trip I did in england. It wasn't a particularly difficult cave, but it required a few ladders and a SUMP! That was the part that I remember the most.
For those of you that don't know a sump is a place in a cave where the water reaches the ceiling of the cave for a short distance (although its typically the ceiling lowering then the water raising). So to get to the other side you have to swim under the water, with no ability to come up for air till you reach the other side. It's terrifying, exhilarating, and altogeher soo much fun! just be sure to go with someone more experienced then me!

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd be more then willing to take someone sailing and show them the ropes as it were. I would also be more then happy to teach someone english, although it seems like everyone knows it already.

I'd love to learn Spanish and German so anyone who can do that would be awesome.