We are newly married and taking off for a round the world adventure on motorbikes! Our goal is to ride the Silk Road on motorcycles, from the UK to Southeast Asia, meeting people and exploring cultures along the way.

We are both teachers back home in California. Maddie teaches Special Education and Jesse teaches Art in all its forms.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We've both used couchsurfing a lot in our past travels as a way to meet people, get to know a place from an intimate perspective, and share where we come from too. The best part of travel is the people-- and we find that we meet the best kinds of people here, where we are all excited to share time and spirit together.

Interests

We enjoy exploring the backcountry, long beach-days, gardening, reading, making art, looking at art, trying new foods and drinks, getting to know new communities.

• arts
• architecture
• contemporary art
• cooking
• yoga
• drinking
• politics
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sailing
• rock climbing
• volunteering
• beaches
• permaculture
• intentional communities
• social justice
• bicycling
• rainbow gathering
• hot springs
• motorbikes
• distilling
• wood and metalworking

Music, Movies, and Books

Madeline:

- My recent reads are: Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell and Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich.

Jesse:

- Invisible Cities by Calvino
- Everything by John le Carre
- The Passenger by Antonioni
- Kanye West

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We built a shipping container into a house on the top of a mountain over the sea.

Teach, Learn, Share

Madeline: At home I'm a teacher of students with learning differences, and I especially enjoy teaching kids the fundamentals of reading. I also know some basic sewing, knitting and crochet that I would love to teach anyone with an interest.

I'd be very excited to learn more about permaculture, basic gardening, intentional communities, watercoloring, climate change and socialist activism, off-road motorcycle riding and cooking skills. Book recommendations would be appreciated!

Jesse: I love to teach art to all ages, whether you have an established practice or never tried before. I can show you around a camera too. I'm a lifelong rock climber and coach-- we don't carry gear but I'd be glad to go and find some with you! I'm pretty handy at building things. I can cook up a mean paella, a very nice kimchi jigae, or the best tri tip you've ever had.

Theres lots I want to learn: Cob house construction. Wooden boat building. Kiteboarding. Hebrew. Japanese carpentry, especially joinery. How to surf as well as Maddie. Most of all I want to learn about you and the place you call home.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good cookin', handiwork, art lessons, rides on the motorcycles.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States