I was born in California and my family moved to the Netherlands when I was 12. I went to high school there and to university years later. I spent about 10 years in Europe and have lived mostly in California the rest of the time. I lived in New Orleans, Brookline (NYC), Key West and Portland about 4 months each, but I keep going back to San Francisco, which I consider my home. I worked for several tech companies over the years, but quit my day job in 2009 to host karaoke. I now have a karaoke company KJPaul.com in San Francisco and I love it. I have not looked back since. I also run a big Burning Man theme Camp called the Hammock Hangout thehammockhangout.com. Lives been good to me so far.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I used to love hitchhiking and I always carried a tent and sleeping bag with me. I had an address book with people I met while traveling, studying at UC Berkeley and the University of Amsterdam and I would frequently show up at people's houses back when you could only seems a postcard and how they would be home. Most people didn't even have answering machines even just 25 years ago! Well now I am excited to check out this new way of traveling. I could stay in hotels now, but that is just boring. Looking forward to meeting you!

Interests

Besides traveling and meeting interesting people, I love science, karaoke, cycling, hiking, cowboy hats, deserts, mountains, cities and beautiful places. I consider myself a socialist and I am very open minded.

• books
• running
• technology
• traveling
• karaoke
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• science
• hitchhiking
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Science fiction, Max Headroom, Star Trek, Alien Mime...
Social literature: Shock Doctrine is a must read!
Other: Lean Startup, Science News, , Scientific America
I'm a huge Jimmy Carter fan.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Ridden my bicycle across the U.S. And Europe several times. I used to love Grey Hound buses, not so much any more... I quit my well passing day job to follow my passion and I now host karaoke for a living. I've been to Burning Man 20 times.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, United States