Currently living in Medellin after leaving the US in Oct 2018.

CURRENT MISSION
As of 12 Nov 2018 Backpacking thru Europe, currently in Paris till the 18th.

ABOUT ME

I love meeting people and making new friends, it helps me conquer social anxiety. I recently learned about the CS lifestyle from a traveler passing by my bank (job). As soon as she told me she had just arrived from 6 months in South East Asia my ears perked up like a puppy. I must have asked her a million questions. I would love to learn more about the CS life style. If you have any suggestions on how to plan a traveling adventure I would love to hear from you. If you need a travel buddy I'm all in! Especially if you plan it out, I'm a horrible planner. I flew to Colombia once without having a plan, landed in Bogota stayed two days felt a little sad because I was alone and then hopped over to Cartagena met a great girl (Rita) that showed me the city in 2 days that I was there. We have kept in contact and can't wait for her to visit me here in Chicago. This is why I decided to step out of my comfort zone and join CS, because I want to meet great people that love to travel.

Updated 31st of October 2018....
I quit my career to travel in July 2018... First destination was Spain, and am now in Greece. I stayed with friends in Spain and in Nafpaktos Greece, and will look forward to the Couchsurfing community to help me with directions, meet-ups, and even a place to stay!

I am very respectful of your place and will treat it better than my own! Thank you ahead of time.

PHILOSOPHY

I used to think I would one day save the world. That I would help humanity save itself from itself. Now, I focus on helping those that are close to me and or near me. Over the last 15 years I've allowed life to pull me in different directions. Now I'm focusing on me and what makes me happy. Helping others makes me happy, traveling makes me happy, maybe I can combine the two someday.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Traveling and meeting people via couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couch surfing experience has been limited to staying with relatives while on family visits. I would love to meet up for dinner, drinks, coffee, sight seeing if you're in Chicago send me an email and we'll meet up.

Interests

Helping others, traveling, fixing things and riding my motorcycle. I love outdoor spaces and I love listening to music when I can. I love working with my hands and will tackle any "fix it" problem.

• pets
• dancing
• coffee
• drinking
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• outdoor activities
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sightseeing

Music, Movies, and Books

I love all kind of music, but am generally bad at remembering band names. I love watching Indie films as well as large Hollywood over budget action flicks. I recently got into reading Paulo Coelho, I love his books, The Aleph especially. One of my favorite books is Cien años de soledad (100 years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In July 2018 I let go of an amazing career in Banking to travel. I left the US in October after taking some time to hang out with my mom and sister before leaving and also to sell as much of my stuff as I could. Since then I've lived in 2 countries and traveled to 5 total. I've seen sights in Europe that I've dreamed about seeing. And have lived in Costa Rica and now in Medellin Colombia.

While I lived in Costa Rica I got TEFL certified to teach English as a second language.

I taught myself how to ride a motorcycle, which allowed me to enjoy my Chicago countryside in an enlightening manner. I learned how to scuba dive and managed to open water dive while on a trip to Thailand. When I was in Thailand I got to pet a tiger at a Tiger Sanctuary, fed sugar cane and bananas to an Elephant at another Sanctuary. Listened to and elder Thai man crank out Elvis tunes on his imaginary microphone. Mostly during my trips, what amazes me is how happy people are with what they have in life and not how they are unhappy because of what they don't have.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to dance Salsa and Merengue. I can help you to learn the basics of Spanish and English, Algebra. I'm not the greatest mechanic but I can teach you how to change the oil in your car, the battery, spar plugs, wires, the belt, alternator, and most any lights of the car. I can also teach you how to use power tools, and basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical work for your house. These are all passions I have realized and knowledge I've gained in the past several years. I can also help you plan for retirement, help you figure out which is the best credit card for you, how to get a home loan, car loan, and or modify or refinance any loan you have. I can also show you how to fix your credit (don't think it's majic and it will happen overnight, it takes time 6-12 months but we can fix it).

Countries I’ve Visited

Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia, Costa Rica, United States