CURRENT MISSION

My mission is to grow wiser, not older. I'm a young footloose man seeking enlightenment and adventure. There is a big beautiful world out there and I want to explore all corners of it.

ABOUT ME

To put it short, I am an exchange student from California living in Copenhagen for six months until early July (hopefully I can stay for the summer too). I am not a local, I don't know all of the best spots yet because I have been here only since early January, but I still know the city relatively well.

More about me specifically? I guess I can say that I am super goofy and try to be funny a lot of the time. Laughter is my drug, and I try to encourage it as much as possible. I'm the kind of guy who usually laughs at something twice as long as other people, and if someone else is laughing with me, I literally can't stop. It happens to me so often that I am in class and I think about something absolutely ridiculous that happened over the weekend and I laugh out loud in class about it, thus making my classmates think I'm absolutely insane. But honestly, they're the ones missing out on my awesome memories.

PHILOSOPHY

Well, its still under construction. I am just beginning to figure this stuff around right now. But what I can say is that I want to take advantage of the youth I have right now. I want to adventure and go on random escapades and go to unknown places and meet interesting people all before I have to really settle down and be a fully productive individual of society. This is my time to shine right now, and I want to take full advantage. I don't really care for material things, and don't care for money much. I care about depth.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have only done it once! Last summer (2011), when I finished living in Paris, I went down to Barcelona with my friend Connor, and then to Cannes. Connor had a CouchSurfing account, and had done it extensively, and I was just going along with him. In our last days in Barcelona, we were in desperate need to find a place to stay in Cannes. We couldn't afford to stay in those fancy hotels and I honestly was considering just sleeping on the beach there. BUT, and amazing guy, Marco, let us stay with him for a few days in Cannes. He picked us up when we arrived, showed us around, made us awesome French food, and the list goes on. He seriously made our lives so so so much better, and helped ease the stress of last minute / spontaneous traveling. We had such a great time there going to the beaches, seeing the fireworks show, going wine tasting, and driving the coast. That experience showed me that CouchSurfing is an amazing phenomenon, and that I need to return the favor to those rucksack wanderers out there that may need a place to stay, a bite to eat, and a good showing around town.

Interests

My biggest priority is playing music. I have been playing drums for a number of years now, and it is by far my most important hobby. I have played in rock bands and jazz combos, and have dabbled in many other types of genres. I also play guitar and a bit of piano and bass. Just from playing in drums in bands I have developed an ear that entices me to play other instruments and see what sounds good, like in guitar and piano, where I just began by coming up with chord progressions and catchy riffs by ear for fun. I play drums in a rock band from Davis, California named Mommy and Daddy. And, I write the music and play guitar in a surf rock band from Berkeley / San Francisco, named Hot Flash Heat Wave.

I also love to read. I AM A HUGE HEMINGWAY FAN. He is my absolute favorite author. I also love reading up on the news and being caught up with world events. In general, I just try to read what ever sounds interesting and enlightening at the moment. The newest addition to my personal reading endeavors is philosophy. Having a existential crisis not to long ago, I have felt the need to get others' ideas on the matter of life, existence, religion, and all of those other massive questions that can chase you around.

To be frank, I am a huge environmentalist, and that's why I am studying environmental studies for my undergrad. I have a huge interest in all matters environmental: sustainable food systems, development, conservation, biodiversity, you name it. I hope have a career in the environmental / green sector, and I don't want that because it is popular or profitable right now, but I want to do it out of ethics and values. I honestly hope to do good in the world, to make it better. So, in my free time, I spend my time reading up on these matters, keeping myself informed, as well as studying this stuff in school.......And as you can probably guess, I love doing outdoorsy things and I love being out in nature. It does the soul good.

I also write. I segment of my personalty wants to be a writer, an author. I believe that I have the ideas of a writer, the feelings and sincerity of one, but I just need to find a way to articulate those ideas in a better way. I journal extensively, but when I am feeling bold, I experiment. I have began a novel twice, a collection of drunken youthful short stories, failed a poetry.

Lastly, I love a good drink and a good conversation. That beautiful pair opens doors and creates memories. Some notable conversations have drastically changed my life for the better, honestly rocking my world. I am hoping through my CouchSurfing experience, I get one of those greats.

• writing
• books
• poetry
• ethics
• dining
• wine
• wine tasting
• drinking
• news
• reading
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• piano
• drums
• backpacking
• environmental studies
• religion
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: for the most part, I am into indie rock these days. I like super catchy, simple indie rock tunes, that get stuck in your head. Recently, I've really begun to like surf rock, like the bands The Drums, Surfer Blood, Best Coast, Beach Fossils, and lo-fi garage rock bands like the Smith Westerns, Cloud Nothings, Howler, to name a few. All time favorite band is The Strokes. I have modeled a lot of what I have played in other bands off of their style, and a lot of The Drums' style as well. Also, I have been getting back in to classic R&B and mo town, which you can never go wrong listening to. I will always have a special place for Andrew Bird in my life because his one of the most talented musicians that I have ever seen, and for Beirut, a band that just hits home. All in all, I can listen to pretty much everything besides American country music and really hardcore rock / Metal.

Movies: like all humans, I think movies are awesome. All time favorite is Into the Wild. For some reason I am sucker for Across the Universe too, I have seen that movie a bunch of times. The first Pirates of the Caribbean is hugely influential in my day to day life (I try to be like Jack Sparrow). Fight Club is also a great one, but I think everyone knows that. I don't watch too many movies anymore now that I'm a student and don't really have time, but I can watch anything. Other movies that I have been known to like: Children of Men, The Thomas Crown Affair, and movies from the 1990s (my childhood).

My all time favorite book is The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway. Hands down. I'll just list some other books: For Whom the Bell Tolls, Farewell to Arms, Tortilla Flat, The Rum Diary, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, On the Road, A Moveable Feast, etc etc. I'm a big Hemingway and Kerouac fan.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

An amazing experience that I can never forget is roadtripping the entire West Coast of the United States, from the border of the US an and Canada to the border of Mexico. Driving up and down the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington was so much fun and really opened my eyes to how amazingly beautiful that stretch of the world is. From the misty, forested, and jagged cliffsides of the Northern coast to the warm, dry, Mexican desert feel of the Southern California coast--I knew the West Coast was the best coast.

Teach, Learn, Share

I learned that if you boil water and you steep pine needles in it and make a tea, the concoction has 10 times more vitamin C than a cup of orange juice. (Useful when backpacking for a very long time).

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, France, United States