Update: it's been extremely challenging to host anyone since covid. But I am in a new home now since my divorce and it's time to open up my life to guests it again.

My first true couch surfing experience was over a Christmas in 1994. I was assigned to a submarine in the US Navy, and we ported in Bremerhaven, Germany. There, families took in a sailor for a night, drove us around their city and hosted us for Christmas Dinner. I was very young and was so very surprised that on the other side of the planet, and who speak very little or no English are willing to randomly bring a complete and total stranger into their home. I had never heard of such a thing. I was amazed. It is one of my precious memories. The true kindness of strangers. It existed outside my little American made bubble. Mind blown!

So then, years later, in 2014 when I saw flyer hanging from a bulletin board in a YMCA that asked, "Are you interested in hosting a young person from Spain?" Sign me up! I called, and the rest is history. We hosted up until the pandemic young teenagers from Spain through a program called Global Friendship. I think 8 in total. I keep in touch with many of them.

Sometime later I came across CS and eventually was lucky enough to host people myself. It is amazing the "risks" people are willing to take. But, that is what is great about CS. Isn't it? The community. It is, we are, a community. Aren't we?

I have hosted young college graduates from Spain that interned for an entire school year teaching immersion Spanish at an underserved elementary school in our community.

Then we one year we changed course and tried a new cultural experience by hosting a high school aged boy from Shanghai. He was here right before the pandemic, was home in Shanghai when Wuhan locked down, and came back here after the Chinese New Year. The rest of the year was truly a once in a lifetime experience. We endeared racism from family and friends upon his return. It was an amazing learning experience. Eventually we hosted him 2 years later after travel bans were lifted.

I live to meet new people. I had no idea there are so, so many people in the ENTIRE world just like me; curious, open, inviting, accepting, and generally willing to listen and learn about other cultures in a non-judgmental, first hand way. Once I learned about couch surfing I was hooked. I wish I could travel more and meet more of you.

Lastly, the boring stuff: I work in tech but am basically retired. I can bore you with the details, but just know I work with something called Salesforce and several other business software solutions. I am a voracious reader. I loved Breaking Bad, and the Office. I love to talk about current events, and always look to understand how people view them.

I want to experience people and culture firsthand. To me this is what human being is.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am couchsurfing to meet people and build friendships that can last a lifetime. I want to experience other cultures and share my family with others too. I have hosted people before, and they seem to have liked us enough to keep in touch. The world is so big, and yet so small. We all have so much in common.

Interests

• photography
• reading
• travelling
• travelling the world

Music, Movies, and Books

Don Quixote all time favorite book, but another recent must read is "Demon Copperhead" and "The Overstory"
Music is all over the map. Right now, it's Foals but you cant go wrong with RATM, Rush, and DMB .
Movies? Ferris Bueller Days Off, Dumb and Dumbr,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I like to think the time I tried being a couchsurfing guest was one amazing thing I've done. The woman that hosted me in Antwerp was an experience I will cherish forever.

I was also a Submariner in the US Navy. I was on a Los Angeles class.

Teach, Learn, Share

We know we all can learn and share from each other.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am an open person that loves to talk. I love to learn. I try to listen. I get so damn excited to talk that maybe I don't use the two ears I was born with instead of the one mouth so much.

The home is a 200 plus year old farmhouse.

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turks and Caicos Islands

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States