ABOUT ME

an open mind and open heart who loves to travel.

i enjoy drinking beers and talking about futbol,
and/or having coffee and talking about fashion,
and/or sharing tea and discussing mindfulness and unconditional love.

i will always prefer wandering local neighborhoods to visiting tourist attractions.

***While i am a solo western male traveler, and that can have weird (but deserved) threatening implications these days, since the majority of my life has been in fashion advertising, many/most of my friends are both women and LGBTQ community, thus i am very protective over both. It’s important to me that that is known and understood.*****

(i genuinely almost got in a fist fight with a guy who grabbed the ass of a female CS host of mine on a dance floor once. lol)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In 2013 I ended up in a stress-induced coma for almost a month in an ICU in Los Angeles after living a ridiculous life working around the clock in digital advertising.

When I surprisingly lived through the whole thing...
I quit my job, got rid of all my stuff, packed a bag, bought a yoga mat, and booked a one way ticket East.

I spent 2 years wandering the globe and volunteering and couchsurfing the whole way,
and cannot even begin to communicate what it did in healing that damaged mind and body of mine.

It made me a believer... in everything and anything.

I was offered so much selfless beauty and grace and kindness I could talk about it for hours and days and weeks.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have surfed in about 40 countries so far and am quite certain these connections will be LIFE LONG FRIENDS!

Just remarkable to have access to the unbeaten path and other curious and mindful people all over.

Interests

Football (i.e. soccer) and fashion, dogs and dancing, action movies and foreign films,, good music and yoga, and the biggest one of all.... my intense love for (/and addiction to) second-hand markets.

• fashion
• yoga
• meditation
• traveling
• soccer
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

music

sigur ros, jose gonzalez, the cinematic orchestra, antony and the johnsons, neutral milk hotel, james vincent mcmorrow, sufjan stevens, mogwai, james blake, bon iver, yann tiersen, bright eyes, first aid kit, belle and sebastien, flume, tom odell, death cab for cutie, dustin o'halloran, malcolm middleton, jeff buckley, DIPLO, liz phair, lykke li, yeah yeah yeahs, mary jane girls, nikka costa, seu jorge, caetano veloso, gilberto gil, maria bethania, gal costa, joao gilberto, jorge ben jor, estrella morente, mercedes sosa, chavela vargas, jahnavi jayaprakash, kishori amonkar, m.s. Suubulakshmi,

books

geek love
a winter's tale
unbearable lightness of being
everything is illuminated
any/everything by Jonathan Franzen

movies

rize
amelie
vengo
a bronx tale
gleaming the cube
cidade de deus
heima

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Going to one of the first home games at the new Barcelona football stadium.

Watching the sunset amidst the Bagan temples in Myanmar.

Being brought to tears after 108 sun salutations on the Winter Solstice in Kathmandu.

Sitting in silent meditation for 11 hours a day, for 10 days, at a Vipassana Center in Sri Lanka.

Making a friend for life while hitch-hiking from Estonia to Latvia.

Successfully crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland after a babushka next to me on the train screamed at border control until they let me pass.

Spending a week mountain hiking through the Peruvian Andes to arrive at Macchu Pichu at sunrise.

Watching the past 3 World Cups on the same little patio in a small town in Provence.

Spending a week and a half driving across the entire island/nation of Iceland.

Riding a bicycle with a small tote bag across the island of Cyprus for 3 months.

Midnight Christmas mass in Flemish in Bruges, Belgium. Im not religious at all but the cathedral and the choir was epic beauty.

Having a CS host drive me all over the nation of Ireland until i found long lost relatives.

Walking in support with a queer CS host in a dangerous but really impactful Gay Pride parade in Bulgaria

Going to a Hindi wedding in India and a Muslim wedding in Brunei with CS hosts.

Teach, Learn, Share

can help teach Sirsasana pose. or Search Engine Optimization. whichever you prefer...

would like to learn the best neighborhoods to sit and people watch in your city.

always enjoy sharing funny translations of different languages.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A hug or a high five.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Saint Lucia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

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