CURRENT MISSION

Passionate pursuit.

ABOUT ME

I'm always juggling. I usually have a bookmark in two or three or four different books. I'm interested in the way language and food and geography and faith and literature interact to create culture. At the moment I'm living in the Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco in a small town, and enjoying the pace and the good folk.

PHILOSOPHY

I truly believe that life is what you make it, and as a natural extension of that I aim to be very open-minded. I also find that when you learn to trust people life is incredibly more deep and exciting. I think travel is very important to personal growth, though daily challenges are equally important.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am available to host when my schedule slows enough to give hosting the attention it deserves. I've also surfed, and plan to make future travels more open to surfing, as it's always an invaluable experience.

Interests

I'm beginning to get interested in the Arabic language from an academic perspective. My time in Morocco is on its last year, and my fascination with this place grows every day. A fledgling rooftop garden has renewed my once dark green thumb.

• culture
• books
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• beer
• gardening
• traveling
• juggling
• hiking
• canoeing
• spelunking
• surfing
• geography
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Lately I've been into Steinbeck & Hemingway, and Paul Bowles is growing on me. Recently re-read On the Road and watched Into the Wild, which reminded me of how much I enjoyed flipping through Frank's The Americans back in the growing dark of my room in Green Bay. Listening to John Prine and Tom Waits quite a bit, but evening it out with some prettier voices: Sharon Jones, Ryan Adams, The Beatles, José González. The Graduate and The Princess Bride will always be my favorite films.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once spent over 72 hours without seeing another human being while hiking along the Ice Age Trail in my home state of Wisconsin. It was the longest I've ever gone with zero human interaction.

I skied 56 km in one beautiful winter day.

I went spelunking in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, the day after canoeing down the river that created it.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a capable cook, and have some experience with fermented beverages and foods. I'd be happy to offer help to anyone interested in brewing a tasty beer at home or making one's own private stash of cheese!

I read widely, and tend to think about the world in the frame of someone educated in economic and political philosophy. I appreciate anyone who can relate a movie quote back to a poem, or a romantic encounter to a historical event!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, Morocco, Netherlands, United States

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