Maybe it sounds cliché especially today, but I feel like a nomad - and if I found a job that let me work remotely, I'd be even more cliché.

I mean a nomad in the sense that I don't feel like I really belong anywhere, but that I find a bit of home everywhere. Of course there are places that I feel more and less 'at home', but I'm just too excited about people and learning their culture to stay in one place.

Globalization excites me because it means it's not so hard to really get to know people from completely different backgrounds and with completely different thought patterns than your own. Shared language is an interesting thing to me. It's super interesting to me to speak German (or try too, at least) with other immigrants from across the globe - Chinese, Korean, Afghani, Turkish, Kurdish, Syrian, Nigerian, etc.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm primarily on Couchsurfing to break down barriers that prevent effective communication - culture is a big part of that. Every time I meet someone knew, I try to learn something about their life experience that helps define who they are. Sometimes that's growing up in a Muslim family and is now a gay atheist, sometimes it's growing up in a different state than myself, and sometimes you meet someone from across the globe who has the same traditions as you (or VERY similar) =)

Interests

• culture
• motorcycles
• traveling
• hiking
• swimming
• food
• nature
• wandering
• nomad
• motorcycle touring
• ktm

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Still one of my favorite memories is being at a friend's wedding ceremonies in Tunisia. Despite there being no alcohol whatsoever, it was definitely the wildest party I've ever attended.

Held over three days, the festivities opened with dinner with the 100 or so closest family members and had a traditional band of about 9 people playing for us. Everything was relatively calm until after dinner. We moved all the tables and aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, little cousins, and parents joined in for the dance party. The most surprising moment came as we were waving our arms, snapping to the beat, and maybe throwing in a shimmy every now and then. One of the older women just started flailing and I may have panicked. The family kept calm though and a cousin of the bride grabbed a chair just as another cousin caught the grandma who was now completely unconscious. The other two foreigners and I just stared not knowing how to react as everyone filled in around her and kept dancing!

We asked around a bit and apparently it was just normal. She had 'felt the spirit of Allah' and was 'overcome'. No big deal, they just left her in the chair in the middle of the dance floor until she came to again and went right back to dancing!

At about 3am we settled into karaoke to close the night and the 3 year old cousin of the bride sang "Let it Go" in French. So freaking adorable.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm pretty new to geocaching, but would be cool to team up if you're interested!

I love to cook and have been vegetarian off and on for almost 8 years. Finally trying to make a real effort to be completely plant-based and it's working out fairly well! So I'm trying to learn lots of new recipes.

Sometimes it's difficult to find all the ingredients, but my creations generally come out delicious! So let's cook something!

Typically, it's a little bit less so on couchsurfing because of the type of community it attracts, but if there's any questions about any of the places I've been or lived, I'm always happy to share.

And, for the moment at least, if you need something from Austria (Lebkuchen? Marillenschnapps?) I'm happy to bring it!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, China, Turkey, United States