I was born in Washington State in 1958 and moved to Manila, Philippines when I was 18 months old. I spent most of my childhood years there until 7th grade. I moved to the Portland, Oregon area for six years and then to Seattle for university in 1976. I lived in Seattle from 1976 to 1989, then in two different Vietnamese refugee camps in Malaysia from 89-91 and then back to Seattle until 1999. I moved to Chicago in '99 and remained there until two years ago. I met my lovely wife and life-journey companion Karen while living there. We moved out to Ventura County, California two years ago where my parents and older sister also live. Karen and I are both joyfully Catholic, love to travel and love people from different cultures and countries. Two of our favorites are Haiti and Zambia (the Philippines of course!). Karen is a life coach and trainer. I am soon to be a TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) teacher. We are both passionate about music and love Star Trek! :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We love the whole concept of a shared economy and try to live simple lives ourselves. We'd much rather share than consume. :) We also love meeting new people. While our home is a rental, we hope to be able to share it with others as we are able.

Interests

• reading
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• biking
• star trek
• children
• hospitality
• laughter
• star wars
• lord of the rings
• faith
• naturist activities

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - Christian Praise and Music (English and Spanish), Classical, Jazz, Celtic, International, Bruce Cockburn, Bluegrass, Reggae

Movies - LORD OF THE RINGS! And many others!

Books - too many to count! I read voraciously!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived in a Vietnamese refugee camp on an island located in the South China Sea. It was AWESOME! The Vietnamese people were really the amazing ones. I was just privileged and honored to share life with them for a year and a half.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bangladesh, England, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Nepal, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Palestine, Philippines, Scotland, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia, Philippines