CURRENT MISSION

Coming to understand the world one sketch at a time.

ABOUT ME

Since a young age my imagination has gotten the better of me. I was enthralled by stories of adventure, brave men and women setting off to chart the unknown. The vastness of the world proved an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the whims of my imagination.
Granted today, much of the world has been mapped and many of the wonders discovered, the joy of experiencing something first hand can't be replaced by mere pictures or articles.

At the age of 19, with a European rail pass in hand, I set off on my first international adventure. And really, that's when it all started. My wanderlust got the better of me and since then I've been exploring the world.

Initially, I thought i was off to SEE the world. Though what I slowly came to realize as my travels continued is that i was actually having the world shown to me. The things that i have had the privilege of seeing are no doubt amazing. However, it's the people who I've encountered and the windows they have graciously opened into their respective cultures that has proven to be the truly rewarding part of this grand adventure that is life.

Currently I find myself in Japan, teaching English, painting and when time permits jaunting merrily about the rice field littered countryside with friends. Where life will take me next is yet to be seen, though I'm sure it will be an amazing experience regardless.

PHILOSOPHY

"To see far is one thing, going there is another."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

New to the couch surfing community. Willing to host and looking forward to surfing other's couches.

Interests

Music, cooking and eating, road cycling and road touring, painting, drawing, art history, reading.

• arts
• festivals
• cooking
• reading
• painting
• drawing
• music
• cycling
• surfing
• art history
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

I listen to and find inspiration in a a wide range of music: Metal, IDM, Glam Rock, Jazz, Classical, Classic Rock, Hip- Hop, Soul, India Rock, Alternative, Trance... and I am always searching for something new and intriguing.

Artists always on rotation: Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Bjork, Nick Drake, Do Make Say Think, David Bowie, Broken Social Scene, Mastadon, Isis, Fleetwood Mac, The Notwist, Daft Punk, Cocteau Twins, Japan, Telefon Tel Aviv.

Currently listening to: The Dream, Beach House, Rush, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, LCD sound system.

Books:
I love to read, though it seems to be one of those pursuits where i find myself with too little time and with too many books that i'd like to read. I try not to get the myriad literary options overwhelm me and continue in vain to read onwards.

I've primarily been interested in fiction, but currently I'm beginning to delve into non-fiction.

Recently Read:
"A Farewell to Arms " -Ernest Hemingway
"Siesta: The Sun also Rises"- Ernest Hemingway
"Naked Lunch"- Edgar Rice Burroughs
"Life of Pie"- Yann Martel
"Tipping Point"- Malcolm Gladwell
"The Dunwich Horror and Other Short Stories"- H.P. Lovecraft

Currently Reading:
"Outliers"- Malcolm Gladwell
"A Passage to India" E.M. Forster

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Ran with the bulls, the day after I turned 21, during San Fermine (a festival in Pamplona, Spain.) In retrospect may not have been the smartest thing I've ever done.

Watch the sun rise over Angkor Watt.

Teach, Learn, Share

"The purpose of learning is growth and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue to grow as long as we live."

Many people think that art is an innate talent that people are born with. I believe this to be only partially true. One might not be a virtuoso at the craft, however I believe that everybody can be taught to draw in some capacity or another. Drawing is a process, a way of seeing and exlporing space--and a way of understanding.

"The very act of drawing an object, however badly, swiftly takes the drawer from a woolly sense of what the object looks like to a precise awareness of its component parts and particularities."- Alain de Botton

If you like, I'd be more than willing to share some of my knowledge, meager as it may be, on the craft of drawing.

Interested in learning about people's spirituality and life philosophies. Also would love to learn how to play the Harmonica.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Netherlands, United States