CURRENT MISSION

Surviving Berlin Winter.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

If everyone would be couchsurfing, the world would be a more peaceful place.

Interests

• arts
• architecture
• design
• breakfast
• politics
• traveling
• cars
• surfing
• skydiving
• snowboarding
• sports
• basketball
• soccer
• hitchhiking
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
Techno, Roots Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Reaggea, Indie Alternative

Books:
Übermenschen by Juli Zeh; Becoming by Michelle Obama; Siddharta by Hermann Hesse; Slow Travel by Dan Kieran; The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah; Justice by Michael Sandel, anything by Yuval Harari or Bernhard Schlink

Movies:
Aftersun; All Quiet on the Western Front; Django Unchained, Parasite, 12 Years a Slave, The Greatest Showman, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Girl on the Train, Tarzan, 13th Amendment,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being welcomed with open arms to the charming neighborhood of Yeldeğirmeni in Kadıköy, İstanbul

Hitchhiking along the Turkish-Syrian border from Mardin to Gaziantep in Kurdistan

Almost getting attacked by a moose in Glacier National Park, Montana

Meeting a Geisha in charming Sakata, Japan

Dancing in a Kurdish Hamam in Doğubeyazıt, Kurdistan

Drinking one too many glasses of exquisite white wine at the Cafe de la Republique in Arles, France

Hiking the ancient pilgrimage of Kumano Kodo, Wakayama, Japan

Climbing the tallest mountain in North Africa, Toubkal, Morocco

Taking the Doğu Ekspresi from Ankara to Erzurum, which was everything but an “express” train

Embracing culture, food, and people in Hirakata-shi, Japan

Watching the eastern-most sunrise in the world, East Cape, New Zealand

Eating the best Burrito in the world at LaJuanitas, in beautiful Sioux City, Iowa

Smoking cigars in the Valle de Silencio in Viñales, Cuba

Eating the most expensive croissant of my life under the Eiffel Tower, Paris

Skydiving in Taupo, New Zealand

Surfing in beautiful Essaouira, Morocco

Hiking the Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand

Drinking Rum in the streets of Habana, Cuba

Visiting the birthplace of Capitalism in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Milking a goat on a deer farm in Wairoa, New Zealand

Swimming in Japan's deepest lake, Tazawa-ko, Japan

Diving with seals in the Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

Teach, Learn, Share

How to open up a bottle of beer without a bottle opener (basic skill for most Germans, but very impressive - I learned - to most Americans)

What I Can Share with Hosts

a home-made German dinner called Spätzle and an interesting conversation

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, England, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Japan, Turkey, United States