Hello!

My name is Mark and I am a biologist and national park guide from the United States. I grew up in the beautiful city of San Francisco, California, then moved to the city of Dallas, Texas with my family when I was 16.

From there, I went to study biology at the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated in 2022, and since then I have been living as a nomad. I spend the summers working as a guide in Yellowstone National Park, then travel during the winter.

I am very much a biologist at heart. I am fascinated by everything that is alive, and spend much of my time hiking and camping, whether that be here in the US or abroad.

Also, my Instagram is @mark_degraff

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am not looking for hookups. This is Couchsurfing, not Tinder people!

When I first started traveling, I only stayed in hostels. It was nice, but I felt like something was missing. I had little contact with the people who actually lived in the places where I was traveling. So I joined Couchsurfing and had a totally different kind of travel experience: one in which I made lots of friends and immersed myself within the daily lives of the places I was visiting!

Interests

Hiking
Cooking
Trying new foods
Reading
Going out
Language exchange
Reading
Learning new things
Learning about different cultures

• cooking
• hiking
• languages
• nature
• naturaleza
• idiomas
• cocinar
• senderismo

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent September 2022 to April 2023 traveling from Colombia to Southern Chile entirely by land. During that time, I hiked through the cloud forests of Colombia, stayed in an indigenous community in Ecuador, surfed on the coast of Peru, fished for piranhas in the Amazon in Bolivia, stayed with a Mennonite family in Paraguay, went clubbing in Uruguay, learned to prepare authentic yerba mate in Argentina, and trekked across glaciers in Chile!

Teach, Learn, Share

I have a degree in biology and work in ecotoursim, so I am always happy to talk, teach, and learn about the environment.

Also, I really like to cook, especially plant-based recipes. Speaking of which, I am currently working on an outline for a scientific book about how beans (yes, beans) created the ancient world, the modern world, and will create the future. Seriously, there is a lot of evidence supporting this idea. Feel free to ask me about it!

Health and fitness are also really important to me. I have been working hard to stay in shape and eat healthy while traveling, and would love to share tips with you.

And finally, I love to learn. I am always studying something random. So whatever it is you are interested in, I would be happy to listen and learn about it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States