I speak 3 languages (all of which are English) and I am always kinda learning new ones though I am only fluent in English. I own a tour guide company in the mountains of East Tennessee. I was born and raised in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. My family has lived here for over 215 years. I LOVE to travel and meet new people from all over the world. I enjoy hosting folks from other places and teaching them about my home and how we live. I like to cook my favorite foods for folks and show them around. Thats kinda how I got into the tour guide industry. I was in construction for most of my life but it never fit me. Travel has always been an urge for me. I want to see every corner of the earth and meet everyone and eat every kind of food. I am known as a people person. Pretty much everyone who meets me likes me. Its mostly due to my friendly optimistic and no fear attitude. I don't wait for things to come to me, I go to them. The same applies to people, if you wait for them to open up and be friendly you might be waiting a while so I am usually the one who is offering the hand shake first.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on here to meet and understand new people and new cultures. I like everyone who is friendly and polite. I strive to understand the world and its people. I want to see new places and eat new foods. I want to do more than just see it though, I want to learn about it. I want a local perspective on the places I visit. What do you eat, where to you go for fun, how do you live your daily life, what makes your people or family unique. Those are the things that interest me. To see and experience as much as I can before I am to old and frail to do so. When we reach the end of our journey we don't tell people about the couch we bought or the car we drove ... we tell them of the places we seen and the people we met.

Interests

• culture
• hiking
• history
• mountains
• food
• knowledge
• local food
• family
• heritage

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite things? Well, I don't listen to a lot of music but when I do its usually 80's and 90's music like Nirvana, Green Day, Linkin Park, and the like. I love all types of movies. Everything from silent films to action movies and even dramas and documentaries. I don't read many books but I am always reading something. In my younger days I liked the books by Jules Verne. I guess it may have been him and his "Around the World in 80 Days" that got me first interested in learning more about the world. The yearning to see places past my front porch and beyond the end of my home town.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I don't know what you would call amazing. It depends on who you are as to what you find amazing. I once got 30 kills with 0 deaths on MW2 free-for-all ... that was amazing if you are a gamer. I have owned over 30 different motorcycles most of which were sports bikes. Thats amazing if you like to ride. I also crashed a bike at over 100 mph on a mountain road and survived with not a single broken bone. I have traveled and spent time in Europe so thats amazing if you like travel. I have met a lot of interesting people from a lot of places ... thats what I consider my most amazing memories. All the people I meet and learn about.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach people about my culture, my people, my history, and my heritage.
Learn the same from everyone I meet.
Share my experiences with others and encourage them to do the same.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my culture and my knowledge. I can teach them how to cook my local foods from back home. I can tell them about the beauty of spending a cool night in the mountains of East Tennessee listening to the nearby stream run and watching the clouds pass overhead.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, Haiti, Honduras, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States