We're Jade and Mike McFadden - married in June 2010. We grew up in Central California, are from Brooklyn New York, love to learn new things, contribute where we can, and seek experiences that expand our understanding of life (and our place in it).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We're driving around the US of A in our converted Chevy Astro to check out the cities and towns that we might like to live in one day.

Check out the places on our "list" @ https://tinyurl.com/yagzspgu.

If you love your hometown - we want to meet you and learn all about the place you call home - to decide if we want to live there too!

We're also here to connect with folks who'll offer us a place to freshen up and a safe/quiet spot to park our van along the way.

Interests

Aside from our "future hometown search," on our trip and future travels, we hope to ...
- Become conversationally fluent in Spanish.
- Make wine - from picking and selecting the best grapes to the fermentation process.
- Cook mouth-watering Mexican and Italian foods of all sorts and varieties.
- Implement organic gardening practices on a small-scale "backyard garden."
- Craft unique household furnishings.
- Implement the fundamentals of and practice the skills associated with landscape architecture, design, and construction.
- Make any and every type of ice cream like substance known to man.
- Surf at an intermediate level.
- Live simply and sustainably.

If you have a special talent in OR are working on projects that touch any of these interests - we'd love to contribute our time in some way to your efforts and learn as much as we can from you in the process.

• italian food
• mexican food
• traveling
• hiking
• surfing
• organic gardening
• landscape architecture
• furniture design
• ice cream
• learning spanish
• winemaking

Music, Movies, and Books

Music?
Campfire Folk, truth/aspirational/inspirational, and anything with a fun beat that moves your feet! Yup, that even includes pop artists like Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, and Alicia Keys. Some current favorites are ...
~ Can't Stop The Feeling! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw
~ Holy War? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_5AU9guB4
~ I Don't Mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEytL3ggRI8
~ Do you see? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIVHn4i7zuM
~ Shake It Off! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

Books, Movies, and Television?
... Anything that's part of an Epic Fantasy OR some Historical Fiction. Favorites include Harry Potter (of course), Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Outlander. We also enjoy feel-good animated movies and rewatching classics like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Lillies of the Fields, and The Shawshank Redemption. Let's get busy living (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tkzc983aE0)!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A few years ago (2015), we hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world. Completing the entire 2,189 miles (3,522 kilometers) of the Appalachian Trail in one trip (a thru-hike) is a mammoth undertaking. Each year several thousand hikers attempt a thru-hike, and only 20% make it all the way. Since then, we've continued treking - hiking 2,200 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (2017) and walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain twice (2016).

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Laos, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States