Currently road tripping and working from a van named Bruce in the USA!

I am on a constant quest for adventures, laughter and good stories. I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades and enjoy learning by setting and accomplishing goals.

Authority is something I’ve never been fond of, which has resulted in me sticking it to the theoretical man (for better of worse) for most of my life.

Given the chance and I will try anything twice and I’m fascinated by exploring a more efficient or cost-effective way to do everything,

Back in 2010 I was walking in the graduation ceremony for my Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering. The problem was: I was walking in the ceremony, but I wasn’t actually done fulfilling the requirements to get the degree. I was done with all the classes, as well as all the research for my thesis, but I hadn’t written the damn thing yet.

What followed were the most grueling and personally introspective two years of my life, with the ever looming cloud of an unfinished degree overhead.

One of my distractions was travel hacking and getting lost in itinerary builders, building possible trip after possible trip. I decided I'd use an epic trip as my motivation to complete my thesis. The idea was I'd only be able to leave if my thesis was done, because I knew if I left before it was done, I'd never finish it.

It turned out to be a good idea, however, the problem was: I needed to save up a good amount of money and a lot of frequent flyer miles, which took a good chunk of time (about 1.5 years). During that time of saving I really didn't have much motivation to work on writing, and the dark thesis cloud looming overhead was very depressing.

Finally, in early 2012, I realized I had saved enough money and enough frequent flyer miles to take the trip of a lifetime. When I realized this, I hunkered down and crushed out my thesis in about 2 months and successfully defended it April 5, 2012 after almost 1.5 years of procrastination and many different distractions.

It was the hardest and most gratifying accomplishment of my life and played a huge part in shaping who I am today.

Later that year (September 2012) I left on a 12-month trip around the world to 23 countries out of a 26 liter backpack.

It was a life changing trip and it solidified my desire to live an unconventional life from the road.

I returned back to the USA September 2013, with no money, but a desire to build a life allowing me to be as free as possible.

I spent the rest of 2013 and half of 2014 researching and learning about ways to be location independent. I stumbled upon the SEO world and No Hat Digital. I happened to find the site right when they were offering a retreat in Valle De Bravo, Mexico. I applied and was accepted and traveled down to Mexico where I met 10 successful digital entrepreneurs.

It opened my eyes and my network to some amazing possibilities, and in the months following I was able to accomplish my goal of becoming location independent. ​

This brings us to the present where my tangible goals are to grow my blog: The Quest For Awesome into, an amazing community of like-minded people who are looking to do things differently from the majority and help each other reach their goals.

My less tangible goal is to be content with what I have.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've been traveling the world out of a 20 lb backpack since 2012 and the BEST thing isn't the beautiful scenery or the amazing adventures. The BEST thing is when I meet like-minded people and form a bond.

Maybe the bond only lasts for the afternoon, or maybe it lasts a lifetime.​

It doesn’t matter. What matters is the sense of community formed, which is why I'm on Couchsurfing, and why I enjoy it so much :)

Interests

People doing awesome things. If you're passionate about what you're interested in and what you're doing I can listen to you for hours.

• writing
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• running
• walking
• traveling
• blogging
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• business
• communications
• digital marketing

Music, Movies, and Books

Short book list:
On the Road
The Power of Influence
Ender's Game
Shantaram

Short movies list:
Billy Madison
Happy Gilmore
Heavyweights
Bridesmaids

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watching the sun rise on Hawaii after hiking the Stairway to Heaven.

Traveled around the world to 23 different countries for 1 year out of a 20 lb backpack.

Scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef for 3 days - http://www.thequestforawesome.com/scubadivethegreatbarrierreef/

Road tripped around New Zealand for 2 weeks. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jznGE_lMya8

Spent the night in a 2000+ year old cave with a Bedouin family in Petra, Jordan - http://theplanetd.com/an-unexpected-adventure-slumber-party-in-a-2000-year-old-cave/

I love me a good adventure with good people :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I have been living and working from the road since 2012 so I know all about building, running and monetizing a blog as well as the social media management behind it and how to grow and create a presence online.

In my past life before all the travel I got my Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering and was a bartender for 4 years.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to cook, talk adventures as well as business strategies.

One of my favorite activities is going grocery shopping and spending the day cooking a meal while drinking a tasty beverage.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lesotho, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mexico, Portugal, Spain, United States, Viet Nam