Recently left my postdoc research job at Princeton U, sold my Tesla and rented out my flat in Princeton to move to a car-free life Hong Kong and serve as an Research Assistant Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
I get a lot of requests and I kindly share my sleeping space with CSers, so my hospitality is conditional, with the the following conditions (as I still have a tenant that is not vaccinated):
1) I live in an EXTREMELY popular area in the center of Hong Kong Island, but all I have is a spacious couch and a thin mat that I give massages on, so do not expect luxury accommodations unless you really okay with sharing my big bed. Just bear that in mind.
2) I cannot host you if you SNORE while sleeping, PLEASE do not waste our time or that of many other prospective guests: I need my 5-8 hours of sleep to be healthy, productive and happy, and I prefer to say yes to people who genuinely want to stay with me (and at least the minimize the number of such people I have to say "no" to). If you are not sure, to quote Delphi, know thyself.
Now that that is out of the way:
I am a writer, social researcher, and practitioner of the physical therapy of traditional Chinese medicine.

I can work pretty much whenever I want as I only have teach for around 20 hours each year and research and write the rest of the time. So I do have time to show you around, but I also have to hustle entrepreneur style to publish more so if you want to hang out let me know doing what if you are looking for more a place to stay and I will manage my time.

I am not really a "Jack of All Trades" (although I wish I was) but one CSer Christianed me with the riff on my Spanish name Jacobo, so you can see I am not really a bore (though I am probably more intense and productive than most people and more on the explore extreme end of the explore-exploit spectrum than most people (working on changing that!) ;)
I like exchanging knowledge about different societies and cultures, joking around and having fun, having deep conversations, and practicing bodywork and traveling the world.

I still have 50 countries I have not visited but I hope to find a travel partner for the remainder since I study international travel and migration control and how it relates to inequality. I am especially interested in hearing about your stories traveling and migrating and anything that you learned (just be aware that I may use it for anonymized and confidential data in a UCLA approved study ;) I research this because many wonderful people have hosted me but I cannot host them because they cannot obtain a visa.

Based on my life experiences I am a conservative economically, a liberal socially, a libertarian philosophically, and a socialist politically (if you have a hard time with tension, contradictions and paradoxes, I can elaborate upon meeting) but I do enjoy conversing with and learning from people that have different points of view.

Both rich and poor people have opened their door to me all over the world so one constant mission in my life has been to be as as hospitable to others as others have been toward me. This means that
1) you can enter and leave my home whenever you want,
2) I freely share what I have with you except my computer when I need it,
3) I relieve you of any stress or pain if you wish (with Eastern physical therapy techniques).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To learn about guests and their experiences acquired of the world through both formal and informal education, rather than only from movies, books, and news.

Interests

• writing
• literature
• poetry
• fashion
• yoga
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• music
• social science
• art
• dance
• theatre
• sciences
• bicycling
• acroyoga
• qigong
• tai chi
• lifting weights
• dancing salsa

Music, Movies, and Books

Many wonderful works that you may have not heard of, seen and read. you really do not want to see my list: Let's talk.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

After travel through 142 countries, in the words of more than one person, "Your life is like a movie!" I have overcome adversities that in the words of some friends, "would cause most people to crawl into a hole and never come out again." Maybe that is why I have not really watched TV since I turned 16 and only occasionally see movies?
A short sample: I rode a mountain bike over 2000 km through Japan, climbed to the peak of Kilimanjaro, I took Ayawasca in the Amazon of Peru, I integrated Asian massage techniques at a Turkish bath in Turkey, and amazing guru in India who introduced me to some profound aspects of Indian culture, Tantra, and Kama Sutra; and taught Traditional Chinese medicine and Asian massage therapy in over 100 countries. I have far more extraordinary things to say, but I only share those with people that meet with me. (I actually do not like to write about such things because I feel like it is too conceited, but some of my friends in China have encouraged me to do so, as the think these aspects of me are interesting).
I can share more stories when we meet.

Teach, Learn, Share

why spoil it online? real life is better.
knowledge, wisdom, experience--but the treasures are in the details. (I recognize that though I grew up lower-middle class, I have been quite privileged not only be born white, male and straight, but also to have had parents that invested in my education and taught me how to manage money better than most people).
As for countries I have visited, this thing below is way to time consuming--it is well over one hundred now.
plus several lifetimes worth of experiences

What I Can Share with Hosts

Amazing travel stories (142 countries, so I do not list them here), daily funny exercises in animal Tai chi, Qi Gong, and Acroyoga; salsa; and practicing and teaching Asian physical therapy to reduce stress and pain