CURRENT MISSION

Holistic health, investing in relationships, and trying to make the world a better place

ABOUT ME

I'm an easy going guy who loves to have a good time. I have a broad sense of humor, and often laugh heartily at even the worst of jokes.

I have lost faith in the corporate structure of many thing like business, religion, and charity. However, I have not lost faith in the people that make it up. In fact, it is the people that give me hope.

I gave up the corporate world in 2007 to pursue service work, and have never regretted it. I love being able to spend my time building programs and contributing to efforts that make this world a more enjoyable place for everyone. Currently my work is exploring ways to align various isolated efforts towards social change to deepen their impact and to find ways to strengthen, deepen, or expand that work with volunteerism. I work at a great nonprofit and before that I ran an Urban Agriculture program. It mostly involved working with teens and other volunteers to manage an urban farm that we use as an education tool to talk about social inequities and environmental concerns.

I'm a big fan of community in many senses of the word. I currently live with a group of people that share living space, resources, expenses, meals, and time together. It is an amazing community of people that I continuously grow to love more and more. Community wealth building and community organizing are things that I'm becoming more and more interested in. As much as I love to travel for fun and vacation, I find it important to my life that I'm committed to a place where I can make a difference.

I typically eat pretty restrictively, but I let loose once a week. For a long time beer has been a passion of mine, and even though I don't drink it very much anymore, I still have a pretty good knowledge of the local beer scene and can give you recommendations on some local brews. I'm exploring wines more now, so am exited to try and learn about that culture.

I started grad school in 2014 studying Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities. While I wasn't much excited about all the reading and writing initially, I'm finding that I really enjoy the work because I'm learning so much. Already I've been opened to new perspectives and opportunities I was never exposed to before this program. I don't have specific plans on what I want to do with the degree, but rather am using it as a way to discover how I can try to affect the most positive change possible.

I love to try new things, meet new people, and see new places including you and your city! I'm excited about doing all of these in ways that benefit people other than myself at the same time.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe it is my job to share with people the things in life that bring me joy, peace, and happiness. It is also my responsibility to make sure that the things that bring me joy, peace, and happiness are not encroaching on the lives of others in a detrimental way.

I'm always looking for new ways to reduce the amount of consumption I participate in, increase the amount of things I reuse or can get second-hand, and get the things I don't use to someone else.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been hosting for several years now and really enjoy it. I've surfed on a few roadtrips and am convinced it is by far the best way to experience a city.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'd been surfing and hosting for years even before discovering the CS community. Mostly I'd hosted lots of people for dance events and stayed at even more people's homes. Most of my previous experiences have revolved around Lindy Hop dance exchanges.

Now I've been hosting for several years through this program and have had nothing but great experiences. The people I've met have been interesting, courteous, and usually thought-provoking. I can't wait meet more!

Interests

Sustainability, community, urban agriculture, permaculture, becoming self (or at least communally) sufficient, local economies, youth development, empowering change agents.

Curry...mmmm :-)

Conversations and getting to know new people. Finding out about what drives people and how they have been influences and are influencing others.

Wines & craft spirits.

Community building, relationship investment, spiritual formation.

Food security, waste reclamation, and food growing.

Dancing. I enjoy a wide variety of partner and group dancing including contra, square, lindy hop, blues, balboa, charleston, and other swing dances.

• culture
• writing
• design
• dancing
• education
• dining
• beer
• drinking
• gardening
• reading
• traveling
• investing
• blues
• surfing
• agriculture
• business
• teaching
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Progressive rock, alternative rock, oldies, swing / big band era, blues, bluegrass, anything with good musicianship.

Books: I like a lot of different kinds of books, sci-fi/fantasy, thrillers, mysteries, theology, comedy, etc. I'll try anything once :-)

Movies: Not much I won't watch, although horror is probably closer to the bottom. Favorites are action/adventure, suspense/drama, comedy, sci-fi. Christopher Nolan is my favorite director, I'll watch anything he makes.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived for a year in a community house with 8 other people, 2 families (one with 2 children, 1 and 4 yrs old) and 2 other single guys. It was an amazing and formative year for me full of sharing, teaching, learning, and loving. Of all the beautiful things I've seen and been a part of, this is at the top of the list.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know how to fix basic computer issues. I can set up networks (wireless included) and create network cables.

I know how to swing dance and can teach east coast, balboa, blues, and lindy hop.

I teach gardening and nutrition as my vocation so have lots of experience in that, especially for younger audiences. I'm playing with permaculture ideas abd practices and would love to talk with anyone who is interested or has experience in permaculture design and/or implementation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Croatia, Japan, Russian Federation

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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