CURRENT MISSION

Go to warm places in the winter! Take a years long "gap year" now that we are retired!

ABOUT ME

We are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. We've raised five children, his/hers, and we are taking this part of our lives to travel and explore as much as we can.

You can read about our current travels at http://thaneandmelissa.blogspot.com/

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We love to meet other travelers. We'd would like to tap into this network so that we will have local contacts in areas where we travel and to host people who come to our beautiful home town of Bellingham.

Interests

Reading, cooking, travel (duh!), backgammon, real estate, old buildings and old roads, mental health issues, walking, hiking, backpacking, biking, and art.

• fish
• arts
• cooking
• walking
• boating
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• backpacking

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Living out of a backpack for 7 months in Turkey, Italy and Spain. For us, it is amazing!

Oh yeah, seeing the Pyramids. Wow!

Teach, Learn, Share

Istanbul, Turkey: Skip the fish sandwich, fresh from the boat at the Galata bridge. Rick Steves' shows it as a "back door" little secret, but it turns out to be tourist central (mostly Turks, but LOTS of them). The lines are long and its crowded and the sandwiches are NOT that good.

The Camino de Santiago: we walked it in April/May 2014 from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago, as well as Finesterre and Muxia. My packpack was 10 pounds for a 42 day walk. Ask me anything - I love to share about the Camino.

Real Estate Appraising: I did it for 20 years. I'd be happy to discuss if you need help with anything.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Canada, Croatia, Dominica, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, New Caledonia, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States