Hello folks,

My name is Michael and I've lived in Seattle for about 10 years. I grew up all across the United States including South Dakota, Delaware, and Michigan but I now call Washington my home. I'm currently working as Data Analyst at a video game company during the day and teaching analytics classes and hosting bar trivia at night.

I first traveled out of the country when I was 26 years old to South Korea. I went alone. I was in a country where I wouldn't know a single person and everyone would be speaking a different language. Everyone called me crazy, but it changed my life. I learned that I'm a lot more resourceful than people thought. I gained a lot of confidence and I have loved traveling ever since. I've been to Thailand, United Kingdom, and Canada.

I love unique experiences and meeting new people, especially while traveling abroad. Ideally I'd be traveling more but my current job isn't allowing too much of that. I feel most at home surrounded by total strangers in a Hostel.

My long term goal is to publish a book, podcast, or this picture of a dinosaur I've been coloring. Whatever comes first.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm Couchsurfing because I haven't been able to travel for the past couple of months and I'd love to get acquainted with international travelers again. I love conversation and my ideal couch surfing experience would be giving my guest a tour of the city I've loved for 10 years.

Interests

• writing
• trivia
• reading
• blogging
• teaching
• hosting
• podcasting
• data science
• events

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Book - I enjoy Non-Fiction, currently reading Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. I love anything data related.

Favorite Music - Been really digging Charlie Puth, the Weeknd, Travis Scott, T-Swift. I honestly like all music from Kanye West to Eric Church.

Favorite Movie - Just saw Thor, not huge fan of comic book movies but this one was very good. Favorite film is the Shawshank Redemption.

Favorite Food - Coffee

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I've ever done is travel to South Korea by myself for 2 weeks with no prior international traveling experience. It honestly changed my life, and you can find my speech about it here to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=5D5ql-nC7AY

Teach, Learn, Share

I run an analytics tutoring website (https://michaelvaleri.com/) as well as personal blog (https://valeriality.com/my-videos/).

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'd be willing share stories of my travels!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States