CURRENT MISSION

Learn about everything

ABOUT ME

I'm always curious, I want to know about everything and I want to learn from everyone. That means I enjoy a good discussion, I'm open to any topic, and I ask a lot of questions. Professionally, I am a planetary scientist and former space robotics engineer. So if you like space, I'm happy to chat about that too. I'm originally from Canada, but I've moved around a lot over the last 10 years or so, spending a lot of time in Europe, and the last eight years in California. I just moved to Washington DC in October 2018.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been part of couchsurfing since 2006, so I guess I'm an old-timer at this point. I've surfed couches in France, Switzerland, Portugal and Morocco. Hosted in Seville, Montreal and Toronto. Plus, I spread the good word everywhere I go.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couch surfing is the best idea ever. So far, I have had nothing but excellent experiences and I expect to keep it up! It is really a great way to experience the places you visit. It makes staying in a hostel feel like you're just looking at the place through a viewing window. Don't get me wrong though, hostels can still be fun sometimes, just not the same as couch surfing.

Surfed: France (Avignon, Tours, Clermont-Ferrand, Strasbourg), Switzerland (Geneva, Bern), Portugal (Porto, Lisbon), Morocco (Marrakesh).

Hosted: in Spain (Seville) and Canada (Montreal, Toronto).

Gathered: in France (Strasbourg) while I was living there.

Interests

I'm interested in almost everything... I love to travel, obviously. That also makes me an amateur photographer. I'm a fan of great movies and great music and have been playing drums casually since 1994. I've been a private pilot since 2002. I like to play ice hockey and ultimate frisbee and I do a little rock-climbing. I have also done a little SCUBA diving, snorkeling, sky-diving, hang-gliding, zip-lining, and caving. And I want to try everything else too.

In terms of deep thoughts: I am interested in how the world operates so I like to learn about history, politics, economics and religion, and as a meliorist, I spend time thinking about ethics and how to improve the world.

• ethics
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• drums
• spelunking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• rock climbing
• hockey
• economics
• history
• religion
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Tough one, but I'll try a partial list...

Music: The Tea Party (the band, not the political movement), Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Muse, The Mars Volta, Incubus, Beck, Pumpkins, Zeppelin, Live (until 1999), Bjork, Hawksley Workman, Rimsky Korsakov.

Movies: Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Little Miss Sunshine, Swingers, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Fight Club, Twelve Monkeys, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Boogie Nights, Team America: World Police, Memento, The Hunt for Red October, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, The Matrix (the first one), Back to the Future.

TV: Seinfeld!, Arrested Development, Flight of the Conchords, The Office.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Helped build the International Space Station (take the tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF2w2Dx_QMs), then quit that job and spent 12 months travelling 4 continents.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a little bit about the natural sciences and like to discuss the big questions. I would like to learn more about world history, politics, cultures etc.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, United States

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