CURRENT MISSION

Find the Others.

ABOUT ME

Please read my "Couch Information" before requesting to stay with me, its relevant... trust me!
I live and travel with my girlfriend Alex. We are on the quest of a lifetime, seeking to learn about as many ways to live on Earth through our travels, and develop the lifestyle best suited for ourselves (domestically, spiritually, socially...). In the past, we worked in New York for three months out of the year to enable the next 8 months to travel and adventure. Now we live in a schoolbus converted into a mobile home and have a family of friends that we live with... not just sight-seeing, but actually getting immersed in other worlds. We are currently traveling around the Americas, living on the fringes and earning our place in atypical means wherever we go. A few years ago, we have turned our backs on a "normal" life in exchange for freedom, growth, and happiness together. For us, there's no "some day...", no "what if?", no "I wish I could..."; just whatever we feel like at the time! I can't imagine ever going back!We are trying to make our experiences authentic, pure, educational... and fun as well! We do not affiliate with any religions, but we are on a journey of developing our spirituality and consciousness. Hopefully, we will have much to talk about and we can share our wisdom!We're into good wine, "Midnight Movies", concerts, festivals (Burning Man, Rainbow Gathering, etc), the outdoors, the Arts, and good times with interesting people.Growing up, I lived on a small barrier-beach island near New York City. My father took me and my family around the world to surf destinations, definitely off the beaten path: Puerto Rico, Tortola (British Virgin Islands), the Maldives, Costa Rica, and Hawaii. My mother, an outdoorswoman and nature-lover, brought me all through the Adirondack Mountains to hike and learn hands-on about the world around me. I have also recorded and toured in the US in a reggae band for several years. I definitely am who I am today from these experiences.

James RagusaCreate Your Badge

PHILOSOPHY

Live the life you love."Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

When I can, I love to host! Meeting people via CS who are as excited about travel, the world, and new human experiences as I am is always a treat! I also try to get involved with local CS meetups, and of course do a bit of surfing myself!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We have hosted a bunch of Surfers at our house in Nosara, Costa Rica. Spent about a week traveling with some of our surfers. Got a ton of great advice from the CS group discussion boards. Partied with the CS crew at Burning Man. Stayed with and met some great people in India and found lots of cool stuff to do there! What a great experience it's been so far!

Interessen

music, permaculture, reading, nature, philosophy, anthropology, all forms of life, learning, food, hiking, photography, art, film, coffee, different cultures, compassion, empathy, spiritual development, genuine people...

• arts
• performing arts
• photography
• concerts
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• wine
• coffee
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• surfing
• sailing
• anthropology
• history
• religion
• beaches
• mountains

Musik, Filme und Bücher

Very big fan of all. Too many to list, so I'll just do my current top few for each.MUSIC: I'm into indie, rock, reggae, electronic, jazz, folk, and more, including:The Beatles, The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Air, Easy Star All-Stars, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Broken Social Scene, Elliott Smith, Madlib, Bedouin Soundclash, The Go! Team, The Mountain Goats, Radiohead, Santana, of Montreal, Westbound Train, The Beta Band, Love You Moon, Rx Bandits, Belle and Sebastian, Lettuce, Red Hunter, The Cat Empire, Bob Dylan, Cake, Dr. Dog, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Strokes, Neil Young, Tortoise, The Slackers, Donovan, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Jimi Hendrix, Deerhoof, Curtis Mayfield, The Sea and Cake, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Vic Ruggiero, The Aggrolites, Yo La Tengo, Peter and the Wolf, Four Tet, MGMT, The Pillows, Sparklehorse, Gorillaz.Check out my music taste: http://www.last.fm/user/SteppingRazorrMOVIES: Wes Anderson, Stanley Kubrik, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Fernando Meirelles, Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Lars Von TrierBOOKS: Ishmael (series) by Daniel Quinn, Ender's Game (series) by Orson Scott Card, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Island by Aldous Huxley, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep + VALIS by Philip K Dick, Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

How could I choose one? There are so many amazing things...-We've made chocolate from scratch in tin shacks. -We've lived with traveling Gypsies. -We've climbed volcanos and slept in barns. -We've gone surfing on acid. -We've motorcycled through the jungle at night. -We've stood in the arena with a full grown, rampaging Bull. -We've hosted Andean/Mexican gypsies in our backyard for a month, and cooked over a fire the whole time.-We traveled cross country in a school bus with 14 other strangers from various regions/countries and made some of our best friends. -We've watched the largest temporary structure ever built be burned in silence with thousands of others. We got lost in the desert of Rhajistan. We lived on a rooftop in Kolkata We strolled through the tea fields of Darjeeling. We celebrated Tibetan New Year in a temple from the year 300 AD. We watched countless corpses cremated on the River Ganges We bought a School Bus and made it a home...

Lehren, lernen, teilen

-I've been surfing (waves) my whole life, so I have particular knowledge on the subject.
-I know a lot about the natural world, something I am just fascinated by.
-I am a decent cook and can make great food, even on a budget.
-I have formally studied music for about 15 years, and play saxophone. I am also currently teaching myself guitar. I have knowledge in music theory, history, performance, and some recording.
-I have thrown off the shackles of "normal" life and it feels wonderful. It's different for everyone, but maybe I could offer some advice and help you with the dilemmas we had in common.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Bahamas, Costa Rica, India, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, United States, Virgin Islands, British

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Costa Rica, United States

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