I'm a laid back Midwesterner, recently returned from a two year stint in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps. I love finding new things and exploring. I'm very comfortable by myself, but love sharing a beer or coffee and having deep conversations about history, politics or cheesy fantasy novels. I love the outdoors and am most interested in living my life as sustainably as possible.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Moved out to Oregon to work on starting a sustainable farm, unfortunately that has fallen through, so now I'm applying for jobs. Never lived out west before, so I want to explore while I'm out here and I prefer minimalist travel and seeing places from a local perspective instead of as a tourist. Some of my old roommates and I had hosted couchsurfers years ago, and it was a lot of fun, but I've never been on the site or traveled with it before. I like exploring and meeting people so I figured it would be a good fit.

Interests

• cooking
• board games
• traveling
• homebrewing
• homesteading
• woodworking
• hiking
• camping
• skiing
• snowboarding
• history
• eating
• permaculture
• reading books
• healthy eating
• computers
• real estate
• fly fishing
• aquaponics

Music, Movies, and Books

Musicians: Trampled by Turtles, Del McCoury, The Police, The Band, Beastie Boys, Ben Harper, Tim O'brien, Bob Dylan, People Under the Stairs, CCR, MF Doom, Gorillaz, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Levon Helm, Nina Simone, so many more...
Authors: Ray Bradbury, Bill Bryson, Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Malcom Gladwell, Ernest Hemingway, Ken Kesey, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Naomi Novik, Tom Robbins, Patrick Rothfuss, Salman Rushdie, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut...
Movies: A River Runs Through It, Back to the Future, most Disney movies, most Tarantino movies, Dr. Strangelove, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pan's Labyrinth, most Mel Brooks movies, When Harry Met Sally, just about any western, scifi or fantasy movie.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived in rural Ethiopia for two years doing agricultural/environmental development work.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach and Share: I've taken a lot of cooking courses, I'm certified in permaculture and aquaponics, I've done a gut rehab on a house, I was a commercial real estate broker so I know quite a bit about real estate investment.

Learn: So much

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love cooking and conversation and I'd be happy to help with some garden chores or small home repairs.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Tanzania, Uganda

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ethiopia, United States