My home base is in a community a couple miles from downtown Pittsburgh named Braddock. It is like a vortex of creativity, history, and the diy mentality. It is also inexpensive which allows for a lot of flexibility. I work for a company called Aptiv fabricating and building prototype cars. My son and I travel often in our van and love to meet new people! Myself and a group of local artists run an education initiative that teaches young people design, welding and sculpture at public events so much of my time is spent at interesting places and events throughout the city. In the winter I work as a sales rep in the ski industry so I frequent ski areas all over the country.

PHILOSOPHY

Live simply in a productive and positive way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have hosted around 50 people through Couchsurfing and other like platforms in the last 2 years and hope to host many, many more. I've traveled in a van, from a backpack, buses, planes, and have camped/been to almost every state in the US. I have used craigslist to find rides, give rides and connect to people all over the place. I've traveled in the most excessive manner and I've squatted just the same. I have made many lifelong friends through traveling this way and hopefully I can share some interesting stories with you!

Interests

Bikes, boards, skis, engines, creative outlets. I'm involved in arts education, make art and work with metal. I also work in the ski industry seasonally too. Staying active within the community I important. Always down for good conversation and hearing and learning from different perspectives.

• arts
• design
• diy
• education
• running
• traveling
• cycling
• backpacking
• skiing
• teaching
• engineering
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Eclectic would be the best description of... all of it. Dark humor, anything with or totally without a decent plot piques my interest. Visually interesting or plot driven. Books...Vonnegut, Abbey, Bradbury, sci-fi, irreverent, protestful, anti-authoritarian. Love to read other peoples' favorites.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Worked on building and running an art car at Burning Man.

Teach, Learn, Share

During your stay it is likely I'll be working on one of a million current projects. I would love for you to jump in on an in-progress sculpture, teach you to weld, take you for a bike ride or whatever really. I have a skewed view of life and if you're into hearing about it I guess could let you in on that. I work on projects throughout the city and would like to bring you in to collaborate. Community is the goal and sharing passion is the key.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Many, many awesome spots in Pittsburgh. Post-industrial destinations throughout the city (as long as they last) . Love to show people around.