Michael Gardner's Photo

Verified Profile

  • Payment verified
  • Phone verified
  • Government ID not verified

Accepting Guests

  • 0% response rate
  • Last login 2 months ago

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Overview

  • 44 references 33 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English; learning Spanish
  • 56, Other
  • Member since 2006
  • Nursing
  • Florida Southern College, Biology, Hillsborough Comm Coll...
  • No hometown listed
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

“Hospitality isn’t about our material possessions; it’s about our heart!”

ABOUT ME

Very active, and enjoy going out. Having a 11pm beer with friends at the local watering holes. But I also enjoy spending a rainy evening at home watching a movie. My friends say i'm a little cerebral, always analyzing everything. I can have a conversation with a perfect stranger on almost any subject.

PHILOSOPHY

Have at least a little fun everyday. Schedule it into your plans for the day. You may not wake up tomorrow.
That saying "You can choose your friends but not your family". That's crap. You can choose your family and if you do it more often, you might find yourself liking them more then you ever thought possible!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

These last couple years, I have hosted a few people and participated in a few of the local events organized by fellow couchsurfers. Loving every minute of it!

Interests

Any and everything outdoors. I love playing sports more than watching them. Camping, Hiking, boating... I can fish all day, even if I don't catch anything. My next favorite activity is attending concerts. Nothing like live venue music.

Music, Movies, and Books

Radiohead, Interpol, Incubus, Young the Giant, Shiny Toy Guns, Faith No More, Tomahawk, Audioslave, Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, Fleetwood Mack, Gary Allan, Jewel, Kenny Chesney, Tim Mcgraw, The Killer's, Led Zeplin, NIN, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Jimmy Eat World, Keane, The Bravery, Placebo, Muse, Silversun Pickups, Metric, Jackson Browne, Lifehouse, Blonde Redhead, Muse, A Perfect Circle, U2, Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, RJD2, Stabbing Westward, 311, Wu-tang Clan, System of the Down, Rush, Flogging Molly, Tool, Offspring, Coldplay, Robert Plant. I can listen to almost anything; well, as long as it's not Blue grass.(ha,ha)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I fell off of a 45 ft cliff into a river that carried me about 500 ft down stream without so much as a scratch. I was 13 years old at the time.
Nine years ago (at the time of this writing 2005), I left my house for about 3 months and chose to live on the streets of a large city 300 miles away from anyone I knew with $50 in my pocket. What you discover about yourself and others is intriguing. If I could do it again, I would make it a year in another country.

Teach, Learn, Share

I really would like to be standing on the moon one day. Can any of you help me make this happen?
We are all more alike then most of us care to admit.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Here is some good advice for future CS request you make or to keep in mind when you receive a request to host.

Obviously, it takes a level of trust to invite people you've never met into your home. We live in very dangerous times. So some of the things that CSURFER host look at when vetting a request are: was the request fully filled out, is the persons profile complete (including multiple pics past and present), if there are more than 1 guess requesting to stay, they all should have their own CS (couchsurfing) profile page, etc.?

Also, when the guest is new to CS and has no references, has not been verified, or has no links to any social media pages such as Facebook, Whatsup, etc., or has very little profile information and only 1-2 pics; it gives the impression that the person is hiding something, shady or not trustworthy and your request will likely be declined for safety concerns. This information leaves a verifiable paper trail in case something nefarious takes place.

Those things give a host a more detailed view of the perspective guest to make an informed decision.

I hope this chat is helpful. If you have any questions, please reach out and ask. Good luck with your travels.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bermuda, Canada, Costa Rica, Curaçao, England, France, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

Old School Badges

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