CURRENT MISSION

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.Catch the trade winds in your sails.Explore.Dream.Discover. Mark Twain

ABOUT ME

Latest News I'm a freelance photojournalist and travel the country looking for people, places and things that make this country great and unique. I choose to use Couchsurfing on my travels so that I can get a real look at towns and cities. I don't want the "Chamber of Commerce approved story-line". I want to meet locals that can show me the hidden nooks and crannies that make your hometown special and different. My work has appeared on CNN, CBS and other news outlets as well as local, regional and national outlets such as HuffingtonPost and more.

See my photos at my online gallery

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MY FAVORITE QUOTE
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, "WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!

PHILOSOPHY

Got this one from "Into the Wild"...I've adopted it: "Happiness isn't real unless it's shared".

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When you were born, you cried
and the world rejoiced.
Live your life
so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.

White Elk
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Either Jesus was who He said He was, or He was a liar and a lunatic...you do the math!

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Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participate by surfing and hosting. I live to meet people and see the world through their eyes and learn their unique outlook.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Here's what I've learned from my CouchSurfing Experiences and my travels so far:

Today we have higher buildings and wider highways
But shorter temperaments and narrower points of view.

We spend more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses, but smaller families.
We have more compromises, but less time.
We have more knowledge, but less judgement.
We have more medicines, but less health.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk much, we love only a little, and we hate too much.

We reached the Moon and came back, but
we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbours.
We have conquered the outer space, but not our inner space.

We have higher income, but fewer morals
These are times with more liberty, but less joy.
We have much more food, but less nutrition.

These are the days, in which it takes two incomes for each home,
but divorces increase.
These are times of finer houses, but more broken homes.
THAT IS WHY I PROPOSE, THAT AS OF TODAY,

You do not keep anything for a special occasion, because
everyday that you live is a SPECIAL OCCASION.

Search for knowledge, read more, sit on your front porch
and admire the view without paying attention to your needs.

Spend more time with your family and friends,
eat your favourite foods,
visit the places you love.

Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment;
Not only about survival.

Use your crystal goblets.
Do not save your best perfume,
And use it every time you feel you want it.

Remove from your vocabulary phrases like "one of these day"
And "someday".
Let's write that letter we thought of writing "one of these days".

Let's tell our families and friends how much we love them.

Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life.
Every day, every hour and every minute is special.

And you don't know if it will be your last.

Just think .......... "One of these days"

Interests

My interests are many and varied...always love to learn anything I can from anyone I can...tell me what interests YOU!

SUBSCRIBE to the blog today and be kept up-to-date on the trip planning and the trip itself as well as other random and often mundane topics.

• writing
• perfumes
• dining
• breakfast
• flying
• news
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• survival
• surfing
• sailing
• rock climbing
• freelancing
• mathematics

Music, Movies, and Books

Too many types to list here.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

So much really. I've been blessed to have lived five lifetimes in one lifetime -- and I'm still going! But if I "HAVE" to narrow it down...well...

Laying on a mountain with no noises but the wind rustling through the leaves and a stream flowing near by, the stars so bright and close you feel like you can reach out and touch them.

Setting by the fireplace in a house on a mountain in Alabama, listening to the roar of the river almost right outside the door and spending the entire night talking and laughing with a very special new friend.

Sending out an urgent last minute request for a couch to surf on and having a total strange say, "You can stay with me".

Watching the sun set over Stone Mountain with two new friends.

Meeting the President of the United States IN the Oval Office.

Seeing the courage and grief on the face of a person in New Orleans who has been beaten down by the world, but refuses to give up.

Standing outside my tent in a pine forest in Georgia with a moon so full and bright it's as though daylight never left.

Talking with "Mz Mamie" in Jackson as we shelled butter beans in her kitchen infront of her woodburning cookstove.

Flying 4500 feet in a powered parachute on my maiden flight...nothing around me...nothing under me...just me, the breeze and the sun...awesome experience...thanks so much Lionel for making it happen!

Playing stickball with Omar in Dallas and having him tell me again his dream of being the first kid in "the hood" to go to college.

Climbing up a hill in the French Riviera at 6am to have breakfast and watch the sun rise from a postcard perfect little town perched at the top while the locals still slept.

Falling asleep beside the Mississippi...listening to the noise of the river accompanied by a freight train far off in the distance.

Attending a wedding at a church in Rome with the Vatican in the background.

Helping (well actually more watching than helping) Habitat for Humanity in Altavista, VA do a blitz build on a home for folks...I got to the site and there was only a concrete slab in place...when I left 36 hours later there was a finished house!

Sitting out a rainstorm on top of the amazing Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

Add these to the list:

Pyramids, Stonehenge, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, Big Ben, Colosseum, Arc De Triomphe, Berlin Wall, Loch Ness, Trevi Fountain, Acropolis, Canals of Venice, Notre Dame, Trafalgar Square, Suez Canal, The Holy Land

Teach, Learn, Share

Go Forward With Courage

When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelop you, be still;
be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists
-- as it surely will.
Then act with courage.

Ponca Chief White Eagle (1800's to 1914)

What I Can Share with Hosts

So much has changed in five years, my old profile is: https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/408963/profile/legacy

The last time I used Couchsurfing was in 2012 (or was it 2011?). So much has happened then, I maybe should rewrite my entire profile, but I've left it alone so you can see my positive history on this site and have a fuller picture of who I am.

When I was last on Couchsurfing, I was in the middle of a) walking across America b) making my 1st cross-country, solo and unsupported bicycle trip across America or c) making my 2nd cross-country, solo and unsupported bicycle trip America, or d) All of the above.

The answer. D -- All of the above.

In October 2012, I got married at the Cherokee PowWow in Clarkesville, TN. My bride -- and still my best friend -- is Alejandra. She was born and raised in Buenos Aires and living here when we met. The rest is an unbelievable love story that we'll be glad to share with you in person.

October 2017 will be my first trip back to the states since Ale and I visited for ten-das in 2015. Our itinerary includes Washington DC, Hot Springs, VA, Roanoke, VA, Clarkesville TN (to renew our vows), Asheville, NC, and Milledgeville, GA.

We'll be flying out of Buenos Aires to Washington and then returning to Buenos Aires from Atlanta, GA.

What's up with me now?

I guess you figured out I'm no longer in Asheville. After Ale and I got married, we had a week together and then she had to return home for work. I had to be iin Washington to cover preparations for Obama's second inauguration. On November 30, 2012, when I finished my assignment, I was sitting in a Starbucks missing her.

I started wondering why I was there missing her when I could be in Buenos Aires. So the next day, December 1,, I hopped a plane and, with the exception of 2015, have been here since.

We're both in our early 60s and are way past the 'party age.' You won't have to feed our water us, just provide a clean, safe couch to surf.

Well, that's about it for now. If you have any more questions for me -- anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask. My email is jandrewnelson2@gmail.com

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Barbados, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, United States

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