CURRENT MISSION

old school CSer now with a family still loving cultural exchange.

ABOUT ME

Currently living in Dushanbe

I am a lifelong bike commuter and have ridden to work in such diverse locations as Dallas Texas, Washington DC, Nagoya Japan, Tirana Albania, Lome Togo, Antanarivo Madagascar and here in Dushanbe Tajikistan. I love the idea of burning fat not fossil fuel and keeping the streets clear, the air pure and of course saving money and the health benefits. I have become a gym rat not to get big but to tone core muscles for all that hiking, biking, boarding surfing etc. I also do yoga to help with core and balance though I still suck at meditating....I don't even try anymore, he he. I also spent two years in Japan as a public school English teacher picked up a lot of Japanese on the way. During that time I also backpacked for several months around southeast Asia and loved every minute of it.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in God over country and family over self. We shouldn't crusade to make the world and others bow to our beliefs and wishes. Too often people slap a label on someone as being "out of touch" or "close minded" when they havn't really been in that person's shoes. Be slow to judge and respect and celebrate your differences!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Unfortunately I can't host but I can meet up for a drink.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

visited 31 states (13.7%)Create your own visited map of The World or website vertaling duits?
create your personalized map of europe
or check out our Barcelona travel guidevisited 29 states (58%)Create your own visited map of The United States or website vertaling duits?

Interests

commuter/long distance biking, swimming, snowboarding, windsurfing, hiking, kitesurfing, fishing, yoga, weightlifting, ...anything outdoors really

traveling, photography, playing ragtime, anime, RPGs
Interests: digital photography (pics on www.freewebs.com/texasgaijin), traveling, writing (blogs on texasgaijin.blogspot.com), investing, learning languages and culture (specifically Japanese). I love German as well

• arts
• culture
• writing
• photography
• yoga
• drinking
• anime
• traveling
• investing
• karaoke
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• windsurfing
• surfing
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• swimming
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite TV Shows: Police Chase Videos!! and whatever is on the History Channel, TLC, Discovery and Travel Channels. favorite Shows include The Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs, Modern Marvels, Dog the Bounty Hunter.....
Favorite Movies: anything old and black and white I love. Concerning today's movies, I enjoy anything but horror and gore. Favorite movie would have to be "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963) which inspired "Rat Race"
Favorite Books: The Bible...duh, "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis, "The Knowledge of the Holy" by Tozer, "Knowing God" by Packer, "Treadmill to Oblivion" by Fred Allen as well as various fictional adventure and fantasy books that are too numerous to name here. Ironically I have been turned off of the classics thanks to my high school English classes! :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have made a resume in Japanese and interviewed and gotten jobs without using English. I have bicycled from Nagoya to Kyoto to Osaka to Nara and back to Nagoya and slept in some of the most unorthodox places such as a capsule hotel, karaoke room and an abandoned Buddhist temple. I have cage dived with Great White Sharks in Gansbai South Africa. I have done arctic scuba diving in Iceland in the fissure between tectonic plates. You can also ask me about puenting in Ecuador

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach whatever I know to whoever wants to listen. But you must ask. I have a personal website (www.mickeymccord.com) containing all my travel stories and loads of pictures than can teach and entertain you. Learning is done automatically every day.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share a wealth of travel experiences as well as humorous anecdotes and stories. I love the art of conversation and love to hone it every day.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, Namibia, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

Albania, Burundi, Japan, United Kingdom, United States

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