I’m a philosophy PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. Originally from Maine, I spent my college years in Colorado and before I started grad school, I spent time making wine and working on a ranch in Argentina. Aside from studying philosophy I spend my time playing outside, reading fiction, and taking road trips on my motorcycle (an old BMW GS100). I love to eat good food and drink tasty wine/beer/cocktails. If I were forced to spend the rest of my life continuously engaged in a single activity, I think I'd choose an evening of conversation with friends around an excellent meal. Though it’s hard to know how well your own impressions of yourself reflect the way other people perceive you, I would say that I’m sociable, intelligent, goofy, and empathetic.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet passionate people interested in sharing their experiences and ways of life. People are endlessly fascinating; I want to encounter and learn from as many different perspectives as I can. What do you think and why? Also, the most rewarding trips that I've taken have been those where I connect with local people. It's one thing to go to an Argentine rodeo, another to go to that rodeo with a local champion who introduces you to all the riders and gets you in the ring. The travel experiences that stick with me are the sort that require connecting with people who actually live in the places that I'm visiting.

Interests

http://picasaweb.google.com/matthias.barker

In lieu of writing about my interests (some of which I've already mentioned above) here is an album of photos that I've taken on trips.

• writing
• dining
• wine
• beer
• cocktails
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• backpacking
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekov, Nabokov, Borges, Garcia Marquez, Murakami, David Foster Wallace, and many many more.

Big Lebowski and generally any Coen brothers film

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I took a semester off from college and went on a backpacking trip through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Visiting Machu Picchu was magical, but another one of the highlights of the trip was summiting a 6000 meter mountain outside of La Paz.

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach philosophy at the university level.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, United States