CURRENT MISSION

Living

ABOUT ME

I was once relatively sedentary. Then I left the States in 2010 to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa and haven't been able to sit still ever since.

PHILOSOPHY

I echo Beckett, "try again; fail again; fail better." Life is conscious struggle. It's like Camus' Sisyphus: no hope; only action.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I move around so that my perceptions are constantly confronted and challenged not only by the places I visit but also by the people who call those places home.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've benefited so tremendously from this site that I almost feel guilty about it.

I've surfed, met up for drinks, mined endless recommendations.

I've always been spoiled by the connections I've made.

Interests

Perhaps my greatest passion is poetry. Studying it. Discussing it. Writing it. And while traveling, I try to find it however I can. If you read Wallace Stevens, Robert Creeley, Paul Celan, Anne Marie Albiach... we will have plenty to discuss.

Along with that, I typically try to find good food, strong coffee, live music, wide valleys, narrow streets, mountains, museums, and the sea at sunrise.

• writing
• poetry
• dancing
• dining
• coffee
• drinking
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• live music
• teaching
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Accumulating music from friends all over the planet is my version of collecting postcards or souvenir shot glasses.

I have fairly diverse tastes, and I'm always keen to file share. I listen to lots of old soul, some glam rock and early punk, free jazz, and increasingly more classical stuff (from the Baroque to the minimalists).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

All this world-wandering has taught me that the most amazing thing I can do is meet people.

The genuine love and affection shown to me by strangers continues to, and I suspect will always, amaze me.

Teach, Learn, Share

As a teacher I aspire to be an even better student. To identify a 'kind' of person I enjoy learning from is a limitation I'd rather not impose upon myself.

It's not a romantic delusion, but rather an experiential fact that everyone has something to share. I honestly welcome all of it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Poems disguised as stories. Stories disguised as poems.

And lots of uninhibited dancing.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Italy, Jordan, Lesotho, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Peru, Qatar, Spain, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United States