CURRENT MISSION
"How strange it is to be anything at all"

ABOUT ME

I'll condense this.
I think I am a pretty down to earth guy. That may be the most encompassing description of me. I never have a problem with people and people usually don't have a problem with me. I love music and it makes up a good majority of my life. I like to make new friends and I like to think I'm not too bad at it. I'm outgoing and love to have a good time. I'm outside and around people often. I think I work well in those settings.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'll be WWOOFing (Worldwide Opportunities in Organic Farming) for most of the summer in Ireland. Having hosted and gone couchsurfing I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. I'll be all around Ireland and would love to meet some people to stay with in between farms, etc.

Interests

Some of my favorite activities are those that teach me something. I am always reading a book. I love Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Aldo Leopold and Aldous Huxley to name a few authors I read a lot of. I also really like history. I am infatuated with the history of America especially music history like the folk revival and southern rhythm and blues. History in general is something I am always going to be interested in especially if I have some tie to the people or land. I've just recently started to read William Trevor's Collected Stories to try and learn more about Ireland.

To stay in shape and also to keep my weekends busy and interesting, I rock climb. I have been climbing for three years now and it has taken me to some beautiful places around America. I also like to hike, backpack and camp. If I'm not climbing, I like to swim as well.
I have been playing and involved with music since I was 13 years old. I play guitar and harmonica. I love early American folk music, bluegrass, blues, and jazz.

Other interests include: The American Dust Bowl, Autobiographies, Ethnobotany, History of religions, gospel music, collecting American folk records, The Beat Generation, Bob Dylan, archaic religions, 8 series BMWs, Leonard Cohen, down-home cooking, teaching preschool, hearing peoples stories, Rene Magritte, and fort building.

• books
• festivals
• cooking
• reading
• music
• folk music
• jazz
• guitar
• blues
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• baseball
• rock climbing
• swimming
• history
• religion
• rivers
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived in Australia for three years and gone to many of the islands in the pacific. Growing up with this experience and everything within it has left me pretty adventurous!

Seeing a meteor shower on top of a mountain at a music festival in Virginia was pretty transcendental.

Climbing in the Red River Gorge on one of the most beautiful days!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can be a good friend, willing to talk about and dig your stories, respectful, have a good time or relax. I go with the energy of a room, and stay positive.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I spent my teenage years in the rolling hills of Piedmont North Carolina in a town called Durham (known for their baseball team, blues music and tobacco industry). Summer afternoons on forest islands in brown rivers and hiking through pine trees to abandoned farm houses were a couple of my interests as a kid. My extended family comes from deep Appalachian, small-town America on the banks of the Nantahala River (Nantahala means "land of the noonday sun" in Cherokee).

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Fiji, Mexico, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United States