Hi! I'm Ian.

It's a great, big world out there, with an accordingly big number of things that interest me. Number one is simply exploring. Number two is a good conversation about our discoveries.

I like to trek through the mountains, walk through the woods, navigate strange cities, learn foreign tongues, make music, read, and DANCE (yeah, that one's important). There's plenty more where that came from, but let's leave ourselves something to talk about in person, shall we?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

From a host's perspective, CS is just like an interesting-person delivery service! You can get a little dose of the globe right in your living room. I also adore sharing my fair city with people who've come a long way to appreciate it.

As a surfer, I know this: it is absolutely necessary to get in with the locals if you really want to experience a place. To that end, couchsurfers have always been fantastic liaisons for me. They just "get it," y'know?

Interests

Among many more, here are some particulars: The outdoors, travel, languages, environmentalism, history, politics, folk arts, and dancing. Don't forget the dancing.

• arts
• dancing
• cooking
• flowers
• politics
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• history
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Three's the number.

Music: The Zombies, Daft Punk, and Erik Satie. (Also, the traditional music of just about anywhere.)

Film Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Quentin Tarantino, and Wes Anderson.

Books: The Gulag Archipelago, The His Dark Materials Trilogy, and Christian Appy's Vietnam: An Oral History Told from All Sides.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My friend and I were hiking in the Alps of his native Switzerland, passing through a valley whose peaks rebelled sharply against gravity and whose unending contours stretched for miles in defiance of the horizon. Each breathtaking vista made step-taking a formidable task, as I felt the need to look upon the landscape for as many eons as had formed it in order to fully grasp its majesty. Our journey was a constant struggle between the foot and the eye: one which ached to explore the land and the other which longed to comprehend it. Along a serrated ridge that cut a stark edge to infinity, we spied a beautiful but lonely little flower, whose deep purple hue was like no other among the sparse vegetation and bare earth. We lay down on our bellies and pushed our faces toward its elegant form, which tended no more than two inches above the ground. For several moments we wondered in silence until my comrade piped up and remarked:

"It's kind of funny how around all this," he gestured toward the grandiose mountains, and then back to the tiny flower, "we stop to look at this."

I chuckled in agreement and he continued, his gaze drifting once more into the distance.

"But what's even funnier is to think how many more of these things are out there."

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share anything the universe has shared with me. This includes (but is certainly not limited to) a smattering of outdoor skills, playing the harmonica, and ridiculous historical anecdotes.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Things I do well:

Converse
Cook
Dance
Tell stories
Play harmonica
Drag people along with me on adventures

So am I interesting enough for you?

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Guatemala, Spain, Turkey, United States

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