CURRENT MISSION

Trying to avoid the boredom of habitual living

ABOUT ME

I'm originally from Southern California and my wife is originally from Western Kazakhstan.

My wife Adisa and I live in Kazakhstan, where we have a small school, California Academy, offering English courses to adults.

I have a website about our city Almaty, WalkingAlmaty.com, and offer what have become the most popular walking tours of the city.

I host a television show called "Discovering Kazakhstan with Dennis Keen" on the state network Kazakh TV.

I'm a quadruplet - one of two boys and two girls.

I love to learn and travel, for the same reason - to gain new perspectives.

I love riding bicycles, and bike touring in particular. In 2011 I rode from LA to San Francisco and back, and in 2012 I rode 1300 miles mostly across the Midwest, from New York City to Madison, Wisconsin.

I really enjoy talking to strangers. I think that everybody has a story and I'd love to hear each one. Couchsurfing makes that easier.

PHILOSOPHY

The planet's a big place. Why stay in one little corner when there's so much to see?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surf, I host, I meet up for coffee or tours; I do it all.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first CouchSurfing experience was when I was in Mongolia teaching English with a friend from UCSC. She signed up for CouchSurfing trying to possibly get some help planning a trip, and we got in touch with a fellow Californian who was in town. We took him out to our favorite restaurant in Ulaanbaatar. He was a swell guy (as are most surfers, it seems).

A year later, I became close friends with the person who started the CouchSurfing community in Kyrgyzstan. Through her and our circle of friends, I met a handful of CouchSurfers there, and also hosted a French fellow. He was also swell.

In May and June of 2012, I rode my bicycle from New York City to Madison, Wisconsin, and I crashed with CouchSurfers whenever I could. This was my first real immersion in the CouchSurfing universe and it was beautiful. I wrote profiles of all the Surfers I stayed with, which I bet you'd like to read! It's at:

http://www.thewaytowisconsin.com/tagged/couchsurfer/chrono

I talk a lot there about the CouchSurfing ethos and it's addictive sensibility. Read along and catch the vibe.

When I lived in my tiny Stanford apartment, I hosted CouchSurfers from Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Iran, Brazil, Mexico, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, California...it was a lot of fun!

Now I've lived in Kazakhstan for five years, have gotten married, and love to host travellers at our home. We don't have as much time anymore to host guests, but we've still hosted more than a dozen travellers in Almaty.

Interests

I like, in no particular order: Soviet architecture, bike touring, birdwatching, guitar playing, Central Asia, learning languages, electoral politics, beer, geography, urban exploration, and road trips.

• beer
• coffee
• walking
• politics
• traveling
• guitar
• cycling
• geography
• languages
• neuroscience
• road trips
• tours
• urban exploration

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Shared a womb with three other fetuses.

Teach, Learn, Share

Guitar lessons (or Kazakh dombyra, the national two-stringed long-necked lute.) Russian swear words.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, United States

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