CURRENT MISSION

To South America and back without killing myself on a motorcycle

ABOUT ME

I am Jeff Knievel's raging curiosity. Books and movies and classes are fun and interesting to read, watch, take, however nothing ever really compares to the real life experience. That's why I am here. I was 22 years old and was finishing my 3rd year of university when suddenly it occured to me, "You know nothing at all Jeff. Yeah every week you spit out some essay about some religion or philosophy that you have read about until you went crossed-eyed, but do you know anything really about what you claim to be some expert about?" I was 22 years old and had only ever really known one culture, one religion, one way of life. 22 years of my life had pretty much all been spent within a 200 kilometer radius and this was the year 2005 mind you when you can fly around the world in a day. How much could one actually know about anything when one has had absolutely nothing to compare it to? So I decided, why not kill two birds with one stone. If a formal education is important to me, but I still really want to travel around too, why not take an exchange program that no one ever uses and actually start making my studies relevant? What good is it knowing the 5 pillars of Islam if your never going to meet a Muslim?
That was then, 2 years ago when I lived in Germany. Now I can say that not a whole lot has changed. I completed one more year of university, got involved with that as much as possible and loved it, but at the end of the year something wasn't right. I wasn't completely satisfied and came to the conclusion that I wasn't ready for that life yet. There was still so much more yet to see. So I saved my money this summer while planting trees and when I came home I bought a motorcycle and began planning a trip to South America. I'm still in the preparation stage of the journey. Just waiting for a fine tuning on my bike and some final vaccinations before I hit the road. I will hopefully begin my trip as early as Saturday September 8th, 2007. Perhaps if you are on my route, we can get a chance to meet eachother along the way.

PHILOSOPHY

Reading and thinking critically are essential to life, but never underestimate the value of hard work and experience. Experience teaches us things that books never can.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Well I haven't surfed on peoples couches via couchsurfing.com but I did go on tour with a band across Canada once and was treated to a whole host of couch hospitality. In almost every major city from Regina to Victoria I have slept well on the couches or floors of others. My favorite is the spare mattress that gets thrown anywhere and can accomodate my long legs, but Im really not too picky and can pretty much sleep on anything.

Interests

I am interested in all sorts of things, from: hockey to reading and mountain climbing to meditating. I'd like to say I'm a tadbit Budhist in my lifestyle, but one of those crazy Zen ones that likes to have just as much experience as passive contemplation.

• birds
• culture
• books
• education
• flying
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• muslim
• rock climbing
• hockey
• teaching
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Well, I'm sure by now one can get a little bit of a sense of these kinds of things (I say that because it's my way of avoiding this question), but if I have to answer it then I will as such: I have this buddy who likes music like System of a Down, Rage Against the machine, Led Zepplin, Beatles, At the Drive-in, Tool, Perfect Circle and so on. More recently, I have some friends who like oldies like Bob Dylan, Johny Cash, Leanard Cohen, Bob Marely, Niel Young as well as more modern music like Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, and Arcade Fire. Movies kinda follow the same pattern (i.e. good movies)while books I go for the authors like Jack Karouac, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, Daniel Quinn, John Steinbeck, Joseph Keller (Catch-22), etc. etc. Michael Moore. etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have seen thousands of pilgrims making their way to and from the Vatican City waiting for the Pope to make his Christmas address. Shortly after I ate a burger from McDonalds.

Teach, Learn, Share

Open up to people and be friendly and share stories and be appreciative of their hospitality and friendship. Try not to over analyze things and always smile, no one can fault you for that. Not too mention its so much easier to make someone happy then sad so why waste your energy?

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Germany