CURRENT MISSION

To cross paths with bright people and see unusual places — to take good photographs as well!

ABOUT ME

Hi! My name is Brendon, but my friends call me Endo. I quit my job at the newspaper in February this year to come study French at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
I love reading books and surfing underground websites about social activism around the world. I will soon be traveling to Lyon, France, and Barcelona and I hope to find natives or experienced expats who can show me the best parts of the city.

I keep up on the news and world events, so I can discuss these topics with anyone. I'm very open to learning about how other people live their lives and I hold viewpoints that are not extreme in any way. I think extremism in all forms threatens peaceful society. People need to learn moderation in all things.

I've been a traveler all my life and have lots of stories. Remind me to tell you about the time I got kidnapped in Africa, or went across the Canadian border high on the mushrooms we'd eaten while camping in the forest.

PHILOSOPHY

Learning is a lifetime pursuit; it's never finished and it's what makes our time here on Earth worth it.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I was introduced to the Couchsurfing community by a creative and progressive group of kids, specifically Britney and Anthony from Utah. They are both heroes of mine; Britney for her ability to nurture houseplants that I've neglected and Anthony for his gusto and enthusiasm for life. (Anthony recently announced he's passed his 30,000th kilometer of hitchhiking. This is no easy thing to do.)

I have always been inspired by the idea of expatriated creatives living in foreign countries -- I think of Artur Rimbaud as a gun runner in 1890s Aden, Yemen, or Isabelle Eberhardt dressing in a man's Moroccan robes, or William Burroughs holed up in a whorehouse in Rabat, all of them living lives that could be fiction they're so interesting.

All these dreams are a little bit dated and romantic and naive, I know, but there's a lot that underlies everybody's actions that might be surprising if you only knew what they were thinking. Now you know.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Outside of Couchsurfing I've had lots good backpacking adventures. I used to hitchhike across the Western U.S. and Canada with my drum on my back. Before I used up my hitchhiking miles (I believe each of us are allotted only a certain number of 'em in life, and when they're gone you better take the bus) I danced on the sides of highways from New Mexico to Canada, Colorado to San Francisco, and San Diego to Seattle. I walked a lot and left my name scribbled on street lamps on the highways where I thumbed rides with colorful and shady people.

Later on, I went to places like Conakry, Guinea, in West Africa; Maui, Hawaii; and Interlaken, Switzerland. I like it best when I meet friends and play music with them,. I love playing drums and xylophone and guitar, and I've studied West African Malinké culture extensively.

I've hosted travelers more times than I've surfed. So far I've never had a bad experience and I'd do it all again no question.

If I come to surf at your house you can be sure I will be courteous, wash my dishes and clean up after myself, help purchase food if needed, and generally try to be a good guest.

Centres d'intérêt

Music, making it for my own enjoyment and sharing the experience with others.

I play drums, guitar, harmonica and ukelele and I sing folk and classic sailing songs with a group of folklorists from Utah State University. Let's go to an Irish pub and try out some of my drinking songs.

If the time is right I'll sing a pirate or a sailing song or play you a drum solo so you can hear what I do.

Brazilian Samba drumming, Cuban bata drumming, Latin Jazz, West African djembe drumming, Congolese Ngoma drumming.

• culture
• books
• singing
• dining
• walking
• drinking
• pub crawls
• news
• reading
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• drums
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing
• sailing
• hitchhiking
• mountains

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

French language and culture, American film noir, science and technology, newspapers and magazine journalism, art films, mystery novels.

I listen to the type of music you might expect: guitar and folk, traditional drumming and singing from around the world, classical piano, Latin jazz.

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

Walking through the Jura mountains in Switzerland last spring with my friends. We were with an activist group promoting sustainable energy, so we got to tour the wind-power generators and solar farm. The best part of Switzerland is that no matter where you point your camera, every photo is gorgeous.

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

If you wash dishes with the right intention, you can cleanse your soul.

Pays que j'ai visités

France, Guinea, Senegal, Switzerland

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

Saudi Arabia, United States

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