CURRENT MISSION

I'm an American going on a bit of a European journey (Scotland-Germany-Poland-Lithuania). Part of it is for work (I'm doing a book reading and writing a magazine piece in Scotland), and part of it is, for the first time, to explore my countries of heritage (Poland & Lithuania). Plus Germany, because, why not?

ABOUT ME

I enjoy/am passionate about books, gardening, environmentalism, playing (well, learning) the Irish bag pipes, ice hockey, allemansrätten. I'm a sometimes-journalist, a seasonal park ranger in Alaska, and the author of two (soon to be three) books.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had two very pleasant couchsurfing experiences (much better than hostels, in my opinion) in London and Paris, but my (glowing!) character references are gone because my hosts no longer have profiles. I've never hosted because I normally live in backwoods North Carolina, where no one travels.

Interests

• writing
• books
• gardening
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• canoeing
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Authors: Thoreau, Exupery, Ed Abbey, Bill Bryson, Barry Lopez, Wendell Berry, Jon Franzen, Winston Graham, George R.R. Martin, George Elliot, Annie Dillard.

Music: Arcade Fire, Neil Young.

Movies: The works of Stanley Kubrick and Paul Thomas Anderson. I have special places in my heart for Junebug, Nebraska, Un Prophète, Punch-Drunk Love, and Braveheart.

TV: Game of Thrones, The Wire

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once canoed across Ontario, Canada, in a birch bark canoe, using nothing but 18th century gear and clothes.