CURRENT MISSION: Moment to moment awareness.
ABOUT
After graduating from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, I worked as a field biologist for over 10 years. This took me across the western United States and abroad to Turkey and Indonesia. I worked primarily on projects studying endangered songbirds. After 10 months of a round the world trip beginning in 2007, I taught English in Taiwan for the better part of 2 years before finishing the rest of my rtw dream. After a short spell back in the states I more or less permanently moved to Jakarta, Indonesia in 2013. Maybe my forever home?

visited 38 states (16.8%)Create your own visited map of The World or Amsterdam travel guide for Android

PHILOSOPHY

This may not be original, but I've decided to use a few quotes that I feel sum up my philosophy on life.

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do" ~Rumi

"All who wander are not lost" ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

"We abuse the land because we regard it as a community belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. " ~ Aldo Leopold

"All that arises passes away." The Buddha

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted and been hosted by many lovely people. Spread the Couchsurfing gospel.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been hosted in Turkey, India, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Thailand, Australia, Taiwan and Qatar. I can say that all were lovely experiences. I've hosted some Americans, an Argentine, one Vietnamese and most recently a lovely couple from Slovakia.

Interests

football (soccer), bird watching, hiking, backpacking, snorkeling, biking, live music, sustainable living and building, gardening, conservation biology, and spending time with friends both new and old.

• animals
• birds
• beauty
• gardening
• traveling
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• snorkeling
• soccer
• biology
• communications
• teaching
• tourism
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Lots of travel literature including: Snow by nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk, The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak, Persian Girls by Nahid Rachlin, In Search of the Medicine Buddha by David Crow, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, Born in Tibet by Choghyam Trungpa, Ghandi, anything by Herman Hesse (especially Wandering, my all-time fave), Peter Mathiessen or Edward Abbey, I Have Seen the World Begin by Carsten Jensen, Heart of the World by Ian Baker, Abraham and Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While working on Hawaii I often made the weekend pilgrimage to the leeward side of the island to enjoy the beaches, coral, and warm water. One weekend some friends and I were out snorkeling in a secluded cove, when suddenly we were surrounded by a pod of spinner dolphins who had come in to rest for the day. The pod, about 30, consisted of adults and their young. They swam around us, checking us out for over 10 minutes before they decided to move on.

Listening to them communicate and watching them manuever was unbelievable. Their interest in us was incredible, they had obviously seen us from a distance and decided to come investigate. As we floated in the water watching these beautiful animals interact around us we both marveled in the surreal, and amazing interaction we were experiencing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a willing student and teacher of sustainable living practices, futbol, birds, bees, and social media marketing.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have a healthy knowledge of Indonesia at this point having traveled to around 20 islands.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Indonesia, Taiwan, United States

•