Hello, I'm Jonathan!

Please take the time to read what I've written before messaging me.
Por favor, lee mi perfil antes de solicitar ser invitado, porque probablemente no pueda hospedarte.

You can find me on Instagram @j0nathanreyes if I don't respond to you here (the first "O" is a zero).
Puede seguirme en Instagram si no le respondo aquí: @j0nathanreyes (el premier "O" es un cero).

CURRENT HOSTING SITUATION

I live just outside of Tokyo. I live in the inaka (countryside), so I don't know if anyone would actually be interested in coming to my place. But I can conceivably host a guest or two.

INTRO

Originally from the Bay Area in California, I completed my undergraduate at Boston University with a dual degree in Business Administration and Communication, with an additional minor in Spanish. I spent my post-sophomore year summer in Buenos Aires and my post-graduation summer in Chicago. I eventually ended up in NYC, first working in advertising then ending up in the yoga world.

I was feeling an international relocation after almost-two years in Brooklyn. I ended up moving to Ecuador in January 2019 with Peace Corps. After a whirlwind year with the pandemic, I started to work at a non-profit in Seattle... but I only stayed for five months after I got a once-in-a-lifetime offer to teach in Japan. Now I'm here in Japan!

SOME TRAVELS (last updated this years ago... but I don't want to remove it because it's nice to look back on LOL)

- April to July 2018: did 3 weeks around Mexico, a little break back home in NYC, then 2 weeks around Europe (UK, Kosovo, and Germany), and another 3 weeks around the U.S.

The last leg included a road trip through South Dakota with my friend Jessica and two people whom we found off of Craigslist. I introduced all three to the Couchsurfing community! I specifically mention South Dakota since I had done a "how many U.S. states have I been to?" count earlier in the year and realized that I had gone to 46 at that point! South Dakota was #47.

- August 2018: took a short weekend trip to Montreal for its pride... I hated Montreal before, but now I love it due to this trip!

- September 2018: found a way to spend $15 on a o/w flight to Aruba from NYC. From there, I went to Panama and then visited Colombia for the third time (first time = August 2014 with a free jetBlue trip that I won; second time = February 2017)

- October to November 2018: went on a road trip from Kansas City to Atlanta with my friend Enrico with this itinerary: Kansas City to Topeka to Wichita (Kansas = state #48) to Oklahoma City (Oklahoma = state #49) to Fort Smith to Little Rock to Memphis to Tupelo to Birmingham to Montgomery to Atlanta!

Then I flew from ATL to an almost-24-hr layover in Taipei on my way to the Philippines, where I met up with my family during their vacation in my mom's home province of Cagayan. Ventured to Australia afterwards, then ended my travels with a short stop in Bali's Ubud and Cenggu regions.

- January 2019: hit my 50th state with a trip to Alaska with my mom, then had stops in Seattle and Boise before heading to Miami to meet my fellow Volunteers and start my Peace Corps adventure!

- July 2019: went to Chile to watch the total solar eclipse in the Elqui Valley... AMAZING experience!

- October 2019: checked off a travel bucket-list item of mine by completing the Inca Trail, then ventured around the "Gringo Trail" of Peru for around two weeks in total

- December 2019: spent my first Christmas abroad by visiting a hidden gem of Ecuador -- Yasuní National Park. Never heard of it? Please look it up and maybe check it out one day!

CURRENT MISSION

Exploring Japan as much as I can while being respectful of the culture that I have been welcomed into

PHILOSOPHY

* Solo, but not isolated.

* Why make a living when you can just live?

* It gets to me when people ONLY count countries when traveling. Although I, too, have the dream of visiting all of the world and, some day, getting to 195, I couldn't say that I've "been to the USA" after only visiting NYC, for example. I love going back to countries and seeing all that it has to offer -- and that includes the homes, environments, and intimate settings that you find on Couchsurfing. You truly get to know a location when you're welcomed into people's homes.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've done my fair share of solo traveling and hostel hopping in different parts of the Americas, Asia, and a bit of Europe. I've been to Africa, too, but that was only to South Africa and during a school trip... and also to Oceania, but that was mostly to visit my Australian friends whom I've met in previous travels. (As such, Antarctica is my only remaining continent!) But my most favorite trip was also my longest, when I really got to know the Couchsurfing community as I went around the USA and Canada by only riding around with strangers. A little 90-day hitchhike of sorts; it was basically my introduction to Couchsurfing. You really get to know more about humankind when you sleep on strangers' couches and ride in their cars.

I've met lots of great people through Couchsurfing. That 2016 trip, in particular, introduced me to so many kind souls who showed me around their area and went out of their way to have me as their guest. I know the value that the Couchsurfing community can have.

I want to pay it forward as much as I can... I'm happy to meet anyone in the area who is looking to make new friends!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

~stayed with~
- Detroit, Dec 2015 w/ Mars
- Savannah, GA, Jan 2016 w/ Paul
- Charlotte, NC, Jan 2016 w/ Dani
- Asheville, NC, Jan/Feb 2016 w/ John
- Nashville, Feb 2016 w/ Shawn
- Houston, Feb 2016 w/ Nishanth from India
- Lakewood, OH, Feb 2016 w/ Jesse
- Buffalo, Feb 2016 w/ Ondra
- Thunder Bay, ON, Mar 2016 w/ Michelle
- Winnipeg, Mar 2016 w/ Leah @ Spencer's (haha)
- Medicine Hat, AB, Mar 2016 w/ Sarah and Oliver from Ireland
- Calgary, Mar 2016 w/ Annabelle and Shawn from France
- Vancouver, Mar 2016 w/ Ariel and Jorge from the Philippines and Germany
- Seattle, Mar 2016 w/ Isaac
- Tucson, Mar 2016 w/ Joan
- Lubbock, TX, Apr 2016 w/ Grant
- Dallas, Apr 2016 w/ TJ and Venus from Venezuela
- Havana, Cuba, Feb 2017 w/ Casa de Hatuey
- Miami, Mar 2017 w/ Vance
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jun 2018 w/ Nanda from Indonesia
- Pierre, SD, Jul 2018 w/ Brett
- Rapid City, SD, Jul 2018 w/ Leah
- Kansas City, MO, Oct 2018 w/ Nathan and Kelly (and Elliott!)
- Wichita, KS, Oct 2018 w/ Eric
- Oklahoma City, Oct 2018 w/ Marke
- Little Rock, Oct 2018 w/ Dempsey and Jeanne
- Memphis, Oct 2018 w/ Caleb, Jonathan, and Mark
- Montgomery, AL, Oct 2018 w/ Len
- Boise, Jan 2019 w/ Alec, Molly, and Sai
- Vicuña, Chile, Jul 2019 w/ Miguel, Ignacia, and their mom to see the total solar eclipse!
- Arequipa, Peru, Oct 2019 w/ Cesar and Larry
- El Coca, Ecuador, Dec 2019 w/ Andrés and Cristina

~hosted~
[NYC]
- Brett from Boston; Nov/Dec 2017
- Adrian from Melbourne; Dec 2017/Jan 2018
- Kelsey from London (by way of Indiana); Mar 2018
- Facundo from Rosario, Argentina; May 2018
- Alaukik from Kathmandu; May 2018
- Olga from Berlin; May 2018
- Sofien from Marseilles; May 2018
- Ivan from Reseda, CA; Aug 2018
[Latacunga]
- Brent from Austin; Apr 2019
- Maarten from Nijmegen, Netherlands; Apr 2019
- Jesus from Buenos Aires; Jun 2019

Interests

Film, television, yoga, politics, making connections, spontaneity, interdependence

• yoga
• working out
• traveling
• business
• medicine
• tourism
• hitchhiking
• solo travel

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC - mainstream, throwbacks, top 40 / Fleetwood Mac, Jess Glynne, Queen, Katy Perry, Sam Hunt, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves

BOOKS - Invisible Man, Khaled Hosseini

MOVIES - 12 Angry Men, American Beauty, Brooklyn, Dolor y gloria, My Cousin Vinny, She's All That, She's the Man

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Okay, this is more than one "Amazing Thing," and I notice that they all have to do with long spans of time...

- Endured ~18 hours on a bus with a "semicama" seat, round-trip from Buenos Aires (so I made that journey TWICE) to see the absolutely amazing, amazing, AMAZING Iguazu Falls [2013]

- Hiked ~22 miles in the Grand Canyon in one day after van-camping for two weeks... not bad for someone who considered himself a "city boy" who didn't work out much! [2016]

- Bought a "standing only" ticket from Harbin to Beijing since I was dumb and didn't buy a ticket earlier for a sleeper or even a seat... the trip was ~10 hours in the smoking section and pure hell, but I survived! [2017] Although I will say that it was actually better than my ~19 hours on a "hard seat" train from Hangzhou to Luoyang! [2016]

- Stood out for 8 hours in Times Square during NYC's coldest NYE since 1962 just to see a ball drop [2017 into 2018]

- Traveled from Ecuador to Chile for a period of more than 24 hours to see 2 minutes and 24 seconds of the moon blocking the sun [2019]

Teach, Learn, Share

I have my yoga teaching certificate, so I can teach you a couple of moves if you'd like!

I listed myself as being "fluent" in Spanish, but I'm still constantly learning! If you would like to do a language exchange, I would love that.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm an extrovert who can hold a conversation and will gladly spend lots of time simply hanging out with people, yet I'm also someone who can enjoy comfortable silence and has enough social intelligence to know when those around me need their space.

I have QUITE a number of stories from my journeys, so I can definitely share that. When I'm hosted by someone, I like to take my hosts out to meals to thank them :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Sint Maarten (Dutch part), South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Ecuador, Japan, United States