Fully vaccinated with a recent booster. Happy to wear a mask if it makes you comfortable; I tend to anyway without thinking.

I've wanted to travel ever since I was a kid in Michigan, and I was lucky enough to be born into a family where it was possible. The major trips of my childhood were two visits to my sister as she studied in France and volunteered in Mali. When college came I constructed a degree program that would have qualified me for religious missions incorporating translation, and this evolved over time into simply wanting to experience another culture's way of life for good. My studies took me to Peru, and then to Morocco, for semesters and additional homestays apiece, and while I became much more aware I think I really realized how much I don't know.

I spend all my time these days meeting people from around the world and creating language partnerships. I teach the people I connect with my own native English, I learn a little Punjabi, or Russian, better my French, etc, and most importantly I talk to them about the issues they face and the way they see the world. I am on the first part of hopefully now a lifelong journey: first I will do the kind of travel in Europe I should have done years ago; next I will take a respectable course in TEFL in Mexico to formalize my ability to teach; and finally, I will go teach! It is my hope that teaching becomes a stepping stone to yet more.

Ireland, Hungary, Finland, and Germany are my first stops in all this. I am thrilled to be on my way, and I am excited to meet you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Having just created the profile—

Foremost, I'm looking for a place to stay on a multi-country itinerary.

If possible, I want to meet people and make shared memories in the places I go.

Interests

• photography
• hiking
• geopolitics
• languages
• philosophy
• linguistics
• storytelling
• language history

Music, Movies, and Books

Pretty much anything Coldplay. The hits that have struck a chord with me the most were Clocks, The Scientist, Viva la Vida, and Cemeteries of London. I have no idea what the judgement behind this is in Germany, but I stumbled upon Namika and Peter Fox years ago and listened to them on repeat very contented.

Love me a good anime, whether Death Note or Re: Zero, but I find solace in the sprawling storytelling of Marvel, and I get excited by the sorts of mystery unfolding in something like Inception or The Butterfly Effect. I particularly enjoy any film made outside the United States, provided I can understand the context in the film. While much of what I am exposed to is from here, it makes my world feel smaller.

Current favorite books include The Dawn of Everything by two fellow Davids, Graeber and Wengrow. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson is a splendid read and is just as it sounds. I also like children's books in any of my target languages (which for now, includes Irish, Hungarian, and Finnish)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived on Taquile, an island in Peru, where the native language was Quechua. My hosts and I both had to communicate in a second language, that language being of course Spanish.

Teach, Learn, Share

I desperately want to try your food, and if that means making some reciprocal food for you, I accept that bargain! I'm of course after landmarks in these cities where I'm visiting, but if you have the time and want to show me anywhere that is particularly meaningful for you, I would be thrilled.

If your native language is not English, I would be very open to make this be the start of a language exchange, or simply have one while I'm staying with you. I do enjoy discussing all sorts of topics from international relations to religion, to human rights. At the same time, I can just explore the city!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like to cook! And I love good conversation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mali, Mexico, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, Morocco, Peru