I make my living making websites and teaching martial arts. You can read more about those things on my websites, via http://kylebaker.io.

My other major diversions that I go in and out of are climbing (I've done a few V7's in my peak, prefer bouldering but I can lead sport climbs), playing go (I'm somewhere in the 'single digit kyu range', though a Japanese friend at one point told me I was pretty close to 1dan there), and playing music (had a band as a teenager, made some music, playing in front of some people... guitar, singing, piano, and a little cello and whatever weird instruments like mandolin and banjo I could get my hands on. Bass in another band for a year.)

I am more into tea than alcohol. If I'm drinking, I'm more into cocktails than beer. If I'm drinking beer, I'm more into stouts and really would rather not drink IPA's.

Perché sono iscritto su Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted while living in Jerusalem, years later hosted people in Austin, and have traveled on it in between.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've used Pasporta Servo (Esperanto version of couch surfing that's been around since the 70's) primarily, but I also used couchsurfing in 2010 during the summer in France, and almost in Switzerland (where I ended up using Pasporta Servo instead). Great experiences. Hosting in Jerusalem was almost entirely positive, with the exception of one mediocre experience. (Lovely how rare those are, isn't it!?)

I have surfed a bit in Europe (France), where I got to know the CS community a bit, and a bit in Israel. I did an event or two as a host in Jerusalem while I lived there, which was great.

Surfed in Mexico, excellent experience. Most of my big trip from Mexico City to Vancouver, though, I did with old friends from former travels and friends of friends. Life is awesome!

Last time I used couchsurfing was in Frankfurt (an excellent experience!), but I stayed in the homes of at least 7 different people over 3 months in that last trip I took, only using a hostel twice in surf and tourism spots on the coast of Portugal when I was in super touristy places.

I've been fortunate in that many trips I've done I've been able to surf without even needing this site. Typically friends, and/or friends of friends, or people I meet through the BJJ community (look up the BJJ Globetrotters), or family, or someone I meet on a motorcycle forum, or someone I meet on youtube, or even through pasporta servo 4 times now).

Interessi

If you have good music recommendations from your country or the world, I'd be happy.

• salsa dancing
• movies
• guitar
• piano
• martial arts
• rock climbing
• languages
• philosophy
• linguistics
• climbing
• programming
• cello
• web design
• web development
• bjj
• javascript
• esperanto
• judo
• brazilian jiu jitsu
• sambo
• cuban salsa
• baduk

Musica, film e libri

"Classical" (Hungarian Rhapsody #2, Thomas Newman Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites, Dustin O'Halloran, Zoe Keating), (I'm not going to list all the great classical music that's out there right now!) anything with a good dose of finger-picking-acoustic (thus some folkish stuff, such as Iron & Wine, or The Format); Sufjan Stevens. Massive Attack, and Radiohead. Devics. Thomas Newman. The black keys. Manu Chao. Cake. Damien Rice. Odesza. Glass Animals. St. Vincent. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross.

Meet Joe Black. Lord of War. It's a Beautiful Life. Run Lola Run. Amelie. The Shawshank Redemption. Finding Neverland. Groundhog Day. Man on Wire. Westworld. Rick and Morty. Django Unchained. Abre los Ojos. American Beauty.

Una cosa incredibile che ho fatto

Drove a 30 year old motorcycle from Austin, TX, to Mexico City, and back...

...Then, bought a one way ticket to buy a non-running motorcycle, sight unseen, thousands of miles away, fixed it, and drove back.

Driving said motorcycle, on part of the trip back, 1650 miles (verified by IBA) in under 36 hours and 1050 miles in under 24 hours.

Lived for a year off of money made on a tricycle.

Hotwired a motorcycle that suffered electrical failure on the side of the road in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country to get to where I was going.

Founded a Judo school.

Won an open-weight Judo division.

Jumped from an 80 foot cliff.

Taught at a BJJ Globetrotters camp.

Studied martial arts in a Japanese-style village in the "middle of nowhere", Poland.

Won a 'Go' tournament in the Japanese embassy in Tel Aviv.

Taught myself Esperanto (mostly) by reading a novel written in Esperanto.

Trespassed to play Go on top of the roof of closed buildings overlooking the desert in Jerusalem.

Played music in front of crowds a few times.

Run into people on both sides of the globe, repeatedly, on accident.

Insegna, impara, condividi

-Esperanto
-Some Judo/BJJ
-How to do a cartwheel
-English (I was an English teacher once upon a time)
-Fixing computers, website problems, etc. (I am theoretically still a programmer)
-A song on the guitar or piano
-More random trivia than you probably want
-Help with spelling/writing/editing
-On occasion, I cook well enough to reach the heart.

Cosa posso offrire ai padroni di casa

(See teach/learn/share)

Paesi che ho visitato

Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Paesi in cui ho vissuto

Israel, United States

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