Making space for the kind of change I'd like to see in the world. Maybe that's my contribution. Eventually I'd like to build urban bio-corridors, and community space that fosters connection in a sea of isolationism. In the last year and a half, my girlfriend and I have worked on renovating our new old little house - a humbling process. We needed a guiding vision, and so we have had to keep zooming out to remember why we do this work. Before that, I worked on my mom's house, trying to bring the basement and backyard to life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Travel begins the moment you start planning for it, and the memories last a lifetime. So the idea of travel can be an animating spark that keeps you from turning into a work zombie. Blowing the dust off my account after a decade-long hiatus is bringing back a flood of memories. I've done a school exchange in Germany, a cultural exchange in Ukraine, I've gone backpacking through the eastern Mediterranean, and my longest trip was a bike tour from Edmonton to Guatemala, followed by a couple months in Colombia. I've informally couchsurfed many times. Biggest regret was not taking a laptop for the bike tour, so we used my friend's Couchsurfing and Warm Showers accounts and I didn't collect contacts.

The beautiful thing about this platform is that you can travel without leaving your city. I'd like to rekindle the spirit of Couchsurfing in my daily home life. Right now, my girlfriend and I are planning our next actual trip though. We're going through Copenhagen, Berlin, Krakow, Bydgoszcz, and Gedansk. I will be tracing some family history with this trip.

Interests

Structure loves a good foundation. I'm trying to not skip too many steps and stay grounded. Changing the world has to start locally, mostly.

• arts
• books
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• exercise
• running
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• cycling
• backpacking
• camping
• history
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
In my anglo-speaking North American upbringing, many of my music preferences might be unsurprising - Sixties pop rock, to Seventies glam rock, all the way to Nineties grunge. But change the context, and my music preferences change. When I work now, I listen to lyricless focus tracks and classical recreations.

Current read: Halfway through the Mythos trilogy by Steven Fry. He saturates the old Greek deities with life. Excellent bedtime reading.

How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a fascinating read that explores psychedelic therapy as a way to treat rigid mental states. I love reading anything about alternative ways to treat addiction.

The history genre excites me. Historical fiction (like the Shogun saga), or bios, like that of Marco Polo, or Van Gogh.

Material about language fascinates me. Talking Back, Talking Black by John McWhorter - a dialect can be whole and complete. Not just a bastard child of its mother tongue. Also, I love listening to YouTube videos in French, German, and Spanish. Fun way to learn.

Movies:
Fargo, Synechdoche New York, Mullholland Drive. I can enjoy a well-made thriller or horror - as long as it isn't gratuitous, and has the presence of grounding characters.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Throughout my teen years, I enjoyed making snowforts with my brother. Every winter we would make a bigger better snow fort. Then he moved away. But the memories remain. If we had continued one or two more years, we would have slept inside the fort.

Tunneling was a dangerous process. One time we tunneled too soon after piling up the snow, and the fort collapsed on my brother. Luckily, I was there to pull him out. Lesson: if it's dry powdery snow, let it settle a while in the sun before tunneling.

Teach, Learn, Share

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

David Deutsch argues that, "if you can articulate any problem, you can solve it with enough knowledge and resources." All the world's problems consist of mere things. Many problems can be settled by reframing, or by a good night's sleep. Mourning and grieving are essential, but fatalism and cynisism are not.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My girlfriend and I love to cook. We are respectful of house rules. We leave a place cleaner than we found it. We love early bedtimes and early mornings, but this can slide during travel. We are tea-totallers. We love lively conversation.

Here's her profile too: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/joy-olagoke

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Colombia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Palestine, Switzerland, Turkey, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Germany, Ukraine

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