CURRENT MISSION

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

ABOUT ME

I am an Ph.D student in Engineering and part time BBQ sauce aficionado at The University of Georgia. I live in the greatest college town in the world, Athens, Ga. I like a good beer, a good hike, and good cup of coffee. Not necessarily in that order.

Oh and Barbeque Sauce. I love Barbeque Sauce, I have a borderline unhealthy addiction to the stuff. I love all kinds: Corporate Branded, Local small batch, homemade, Vinegar Based, Tomato Based, Mustard Based, Sweet, Spicy, REALLY Spicy, Tangy, Asian, Korean, Carolina, Kansas City, Memphis, any and all above I love.

mmmm.... Barbeque Sauce.

PHILOSOPHY

*Insert cliche Life statement here*

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far I've only surfed, and it was a great experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

There is no substitute to traveling somewhere where you have a person who knows the area. It lets you not only see parts you would not otherwise see. But really lets you see how other people live and enjoy life.

Interests

Well I love outdoors. I have a group of friends that are crazy enough about it as I am; so we go to lots of random places. I have goal to see all 50 states before I die or get old. So far I've knocked out the entire east coast except for Vermont, the whole south, and all the states that border Mexico.

• books
• beer
• coffee
• bbq
• traveling
• cars
• investing
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

I listen to lots of Pandora. I am currently (06/2014) reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In March 2012 I completed a lifelong goal of hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Probably the coolest experience of my life.

We completed the trip to the bottom and back up in one day. Which they tell you a hundred times is strongly discouraged. Seriously, don't ever try this. People who are not prepared for the physical demands, extreme temperature changes, and lack of water on the route are evacuated (at their own cost.. Hello helicopter bills!) or worse. It was a 12 mile (~20 km) round trip that covered an elevation change of 4800 ft (~1500 m) that took about 9.5 hours. I had the best sleep ever that night after it was over.

Teach, Learn, Share

This is weird but I'm reasonable good at investing. I keep a brokerage account, and though I have no formal training in this field I have been able to do well. I'm pretty knowledgeable on travel to most areas and how to do things on a budget. My travel guru is Clark Howard..

I have also parlayed my engineering skills into fixing things, cars, home appliances and such. Really, it's all comes down to finding an appropriate Youtube "how-to" video and you can do just about anything.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahrain, Belgium, France, Greece, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Turkey, United States