*Californian now living in Cologne, Germany!*

About to begin hosting again in November 2019 - super excited! :)

avid linguist, political enthusiast, civil engineer, alpine adventurist...

down-to-earth, down-to-do-things, open-minded, lgbt-friendly, outgoing introvert (or reserved extrovert???) say my friends...

lover of dashes/hyphens ("-") and ellipses (these things: "...")...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I guess my experience kind of started out differently than many in that I was a guest first during my travels (hardly knowing couchsurfing) and, after having an incredible time, have now decided to give back. Since my first experience, I have had the great opportunity of meeting people through local CS events and hosting fellow travellers (CS'ers and non-CS'ers) whenever the opportunity permits.

Yeah, I understand (as everyone else complains) that CS has changed from its golden years, but as I see it for myself at least...the focus isn't so much on the intentions of others, but on my own intentions: to give back for the fun experiences I had...and to pay it forward for many more in the future!

In your CS request, please put an interesting fact about your hometown or state/province/territory - I'm curious to learn!

Might as well start a new list of recent CS visitors:

Oct '15 - Lukasz Suski (Florida)
Oct '15 - Dominik Hefti (Switzerland)
Nov '15 - Liam Montgomery (British Columbia)
Dec '15 - Jeanrémy Boulet-Giroux (Quebec)
Dec '15 - Christian Koch (Austria)
Dec '15 - Felix Tam (Hong Kong)
Feb '16 - Adarley Luiz Grando Filho (Brazil)
Mar '16 - François Velo (France)
Mar '16 - Henri Schulze Lutum (Germany)
Mar '16 - Guillaume Clermont (Quebec)

May '16 - Rob Cope (New Zealand)
Jun '16 - Jeremy Joseph (Quebec)
Jun '16 - John Mallon (Ireland)
Jun '16 - Stuart Chater (Australia)
Jul '16 - Antonio Palacios (Oaxaca)
Jul '16 - Christopher Altman (many places)
Jul '16 - Tomek Kołodziejczuk (Poland)
Aug '16 - Moritz Ebner (Germany)
Sep '16 - Michael Kaniewski (Poland)
Oct '16 - Steven Danschutter (Belgium)

Dec'16 - Hugo Sellen (France)
Feb'17 - Peter and Ian (Pennsylvania)
Feb'17 - Sandra Lackner (Germany)
Mar'17 - Roman Jandik (Czech Republic)
Mar'17 - Felix Jung (Germany)
Apr'17 - Oliver Beatson (United Kingdom)

Interests

hiking, biking, reading a good book...
meeting new people, and learning about the world

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
"The Coup" by John Updike

Music:
(mostly folk, Americana, or branches of them...)
Lord Huron, The Mighty Oaks, The Brothers Comatose, Milo Greene, Twenty One Pilots, Alabama Shakes, Beirut, Marc Anthony, One Republic, Die Toten Hosen, Fitz & The Tantrums, The Middle East, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Blue Scholars, Del the Funky Homosapien, Bon Iver, Blind Pilot, Ivan & Alyosha, The Mowglis, The Rolling Stones, and more!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Homestayed in a remote village in Tibet. Climbed to almost 15,000 ft, and at the top, right before me was Minyak Gangkar (Gongga-shan 贡嘎山), the third highest outside the Himalayas. According to the locals, the mountain hardly reveals its peak, but to my luck, the weather was perfect. I put up a pic of the view. So very humbled by the long hike and vista!

EDIT: Just did the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, the Caucasus in Georgia, Iceland, and Banff (Canada)! HOLY - can't get enough!

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Somalia, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States

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