ABOUT ME

Writer from California. My books and my old, barely functioning van are the possessions I hold most dear.

My last major trip was an incredible 5 month journey beginning in Shanghai and ending in Istanbul. I met countless brilliant, compassionate people along the way, and a good deal of them were thanks to the CouchSurfing community.

I like to surround myself with people who have a genius for living. They make my life richer.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I don't consider CouchSurfing a means to find a free place to crash. If that's what I'm looking for during my travels, I can sleep in my van (it fits a Queen size mattress) or camp if I am overseas.

CouchSurfing, for me, is a way to engage with people who are intentional about community, connection, and the sharing of stories, culture, and laughter. I like CouchSurfers because they are all a little funky and have some thirst for adventure and wildness that the rest of the world might shy away from.

I hosted in New York City, though I would have done so far more often if my roommates had been more open to the idea. I am now hosting in the East Hollywood/Silverlake area in Los Angeles.

I have CouchSurfed in Ghana, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and the USA. I am happy to help my hosts with whatever they might like, whether that is cooking, cleaning, or taking them camping for their first time (one of my personal favorites).

Interests

Being outside, literature, music, writing, spontaneous traveling, whiskey, good food, sitting and enjoying, people, new challenges, the inexhaustible world.

• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• boating
• traveling
• music
• camping
• hitchhiking
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I love a wide spectrum of all of these things, so I'll just name some current favorites that come to mind.

MUSIC: Townes van Zandt, Alabama Shakes, Tom Waits, Regina Spektor, Andrew Bird, Cowboy Junkies, The Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Springsteen, Gyptian, St. Vincent, Arcade Fire, Tallest Man on Earth, Wu Tang, Titus Andronicus, Deer Tick

MOVIES: Favorite directors include Apichatpong Weersethakul, Agnes Varda, Robert Bresson, Jim Jarmusch, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Altman, Wim Wenders.

BOOKS: Pynchon, Steinbeck, Djuna Barnes, Dostoevsky, Jeanette Winterson, Roberto Bolano, Denis Johnson, Thomas Mann, James Joyce, Karl Marx

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Driving across the United States, both ways.

Researching and reporting on oral storytelling traditions in contemporary Ghana.

Sleeping in unconventional places. To name a few: A cave in the Gobi Desert looking at the Great Wall of China; a 100-year old cellar in the high mountains of Svaneti, Georgia; the floor of the Kazakhstan customs office; a tent in Armenia surrounded by 2,000 sheep.

Traveling the length of the Silk Road.

Crossing the Caspian Sea on a cargo boat.

Hitchhiking through Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Spain, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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