CURRENT MISSION

Experience as much of the wonderful people and cultures of Europe as we can...until we run out of money.

ABOUT ME

We are a 20-something couple, together for over 8 years, looking forward to backpacking Europe together. When the weather is good, we enjoy frisbee golf, tennis, and taking long walks. When the weather is bad (as it usually is in Cincinnati!), we feel quite cozy at home watching tv, sharing funny things we find on the internet, and taking turns beating each other in Age of Empires.

Our European backpacking adventure officially begins July 3! Over 3-4 months we will visit much of Western (and some of Eastern) Europe. Hopefully we will meet some interesting people along the way.

Stephanie: I grew up in a military family and moved around quite a bit as a kid. I was born on an air force base in England, and have lived in Phoenix AZ, Wichita Falls TX, Albuquerque NM, Denton TX, Austin TX, and Cincinnati OH. I have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a fresh-off-the-press Master's degree in Architecture.

I'm vegetarian, but am pretty good at cooking chicken on the grill. I consider myself to be a quiet and thoughtful person who would rather have a great conversation with new people over a cup of coffee than go to a crazy party full of strangers. I once went on a cruise...but never again! 8 hours in a country is almost worse than not going at all. I want to know the heart of the places I go--how people talk with one another, how traffic moves, how buildings and streets and the land interact, and what people value as a culture.

Ich lerne auch gern Deutsch, aber ich habe Nervosität beim Sprechen! Dumm, nicht wahr?

Hi I'm Joss. I was born in Canberra, Australia and lived all over Australia as a child, but mostly in Perth. My family moved to Singapore briefly but returned, and then moved for good to the U.S. when I was 9. For the past three years I've been a "big brother" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, a program that pairs guys and girls with kids who have never known one or more of their parents and need a father figure. My "little brother" - now 11 - is a boy named King who I've loved mentoring. We've been working hard to learn our time tables and explore new hobbies.

I enjoy sports and outdoor activities, and play tennis, run, and try to force myself to do triathalons to stay in shape. I don't think we're nearly as athletic as the profile photo makes us appear! And.. just about every other photo of me involves me either doing some dorky or nerdy.

I graduated from the University of Texas in 2006 with a degree in Electrical Engineering and have been working with a company that specializes in ultra-high end home automation along with custom engineering and software development. It's been a lot of fun solving challenging problems but now I'm ready for a break and ready to take a chance to travel and explore the world.

PHILOSOPHY

"The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriosity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is." -Stephen Fry

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We're both new to CouchSurfing and hope to leave good impressions with our hosts. When we get back from Europe and have a new place to live, we hope to host a few people ourselves. While we currently cannot host anyone, we are happy to get a cup of coffee if you happen to be around the Clifton Gaslight area in Cincinnati.

Interests

Stephanie: architecture, languages, drawing, nature, culture, jigsaw puzzles, television

Joss: programming, computers, traveling, running, biking, swimming, memorizing pi, reddit, robots, home automation

• culture
• architecture
• cooking
• coffee
• vegetarian
• running
• partying
• tv
• traveling
• puzzles
• drawing
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• backpacking
• sports
• tennis
• swimming
• golf
• engineering
• languages
• psychology
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Stephanie's music: Billie Holiday, Smashing Pumpkins, Fiona Apple, Caravan Palace, Regina Spektor, Sigur Ros

Stephanie's tv and movies: QI, House, Man on Wire, The Royal Tenenbaums, Naked, Toy Story

Joss: Independence Day, MacGyver, 24, Alternative and Country Music