PASSIONS: History, cooking, writing fiction, sewing/tailoring historic clothing. Cats!
CAREER: Adjunct History Professor

My fiancee (Jen) and I live in Phoenixville, PA, and we're both considering a more nomadic lifestyle. We both love to travel, and I've stayed at a number of hostels in Canada or the UK. We're both pretty easy going and tend to make friends easily. Jen is far more traveled than I am, having lived in Hungary and Korea, and traveled all over Europe.

Job obligations have meant that Jen and I haven't always had the opportunity to travel together, but we want to change that!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It would be great meeting folks. When I hit a city, I usually end up visiting art galleries and historic sites, but I never really get to experience local events. There's nothing more heartbreaking quite like being in a great city and seeing amazing things, but not having anyone there to share the experience. I want to share memories with people, and I love the idea of meeting new people, hanging out with hosts, etc.

I would love to make more and more trips about socializing and making connections with complete strangers! That would be awesome. We've thought about making changes in our lives, is this is a big part of it.

My fiancee is (perhaps understandably) a little hesitant to try out couchsurfing, so I want to get a taste of it during some of my research trips so I can convince her to try it out more. It would be great if we could do this while traveling in Europe together. We just had our first couchsurfing experience lately, and it was pretty awesome. Hopefully, we'll do more of that.

Interests

Too many to list. I am a very crafty sort. I've been a tailor and apprentice saddlemaker. If it's made of wood, leather, or cloth, I can probably make it. Woodworking is a major passion. I'd love to restore a historic home someday. I'm good at repair, etc., though I hate plumbing.

I'm also a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. I'm a passionate camper and wilderness minimalist. Interested in scifi and fantasy. Life-long learner.

• cats
• arts
• writing
• literature
• cooking
• vegetarian
• vegan
• clothing
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• woodworking
• camping
• sports
• rock climbing
• teaching
• history
• historic sites

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC: Alternative Rock, Classical, Bluegrass, pretty much anything form the '90s.

MOVIES: Eclectic! Over the years, I've seen a ton of history flicks. Mostly, I just like smart movies. If it passes the Bechdel test, even better. I will turn it off if it's filled with mysognist characters or racial stereotypes. Life's too short to waste time on crappy films. I'd rather play board games and chat than channel surf.

BOOKS: These days, I'm reading a lot of N.K. Jemisin's work. I also like Miles/Christian Cameron's stuff. Much of my reading is non-fiction oriented around my dissertation work. Lately, I've been making more time for whimsy. I've been reading a lot of sci fi and fantasy. Tobias Buckell is pretty awesome.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Truly amazing? I've done a lot of rock climbing.

As a teenager, I recklessly endangered myself on countless occasions, performing multiple stunts like falling out of trees, jumping between moving vehicles, jumping out of moving vehicles, setting myself on fire, etc. Yeah...I was a complete idiot sometimes. Funny how otherwise intelligent people can do incredibly dumb things. I'm much more level-headed as an adult.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a fairly good conversationalist. I enjoy spending time around intellectual types, I have to admit. It would be great spending time with folks from different cultural backgrounds. I would LOVE to spend time cooking together!!! This would be the coolest way to spend a visit.

I know nothing about sports--not so much my thing. But if you want to talk about art, literature, history, etc., then I'd love to hang out.

Did I mention cooking? That would be awesome.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would be happy to cook for everyone. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I can make vegan and vegetarian dishes, if required, though I tend to be an omnivore. Generally, I like to eat healthy. Jen too.

If you have some plumbing, electrical, or simple woodworking that needs fixing in the house, I can probably help out. I'm very handy.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States