Sept 2019 Update - I found out I have terminal cancer. My long history with CS has come to an end. I thank CS for all the good memories and experiences I had.

My last update to my profile is below for historical purposes.

Goodbye friends on CS.

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First, please write to me in English so I know you can speak it if you stay here. It is too hard for me to communicate on a deep level with people in any other language and talking to cs'ers is what I like about hosting.

Next is a little about me.

This year I developed some kind of back and hip problem which is making it almost impossible for me to walk. So it looks like I won't be doing any traveling unless the doctors can figure out what is wrong and fix it.

That means I am only hosting for now.

If you stay with me I would really appreciate it if you could help me by doing little things like helping me clean a little, wash my clothes and go to the store to get food. All of this is really hard for me. I spend most of the day in bed now.

To know more about me I will show you what my profile looked like the last time I was traveling in Europe and Brazil.

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I have two main missions as I travel.

1. Youth suicide prevention
2. Change educational system.

I have worked with teen suicide prevention for 20 years. I have probably listened to over 1,000 teens explain why they feel suicidal. It is always based on problems in the family. They are always intelligent, sensitive people who are not getting enough emotional support. For example, they don't feel sufficiently accepted, listened to and understood in their families or at school. They are in a lot of emotional pain and they see suicide as the only way to end their continuous pain.

If something like Couchsurfing were available to them they could choose to stay in places where their emotional needs would be better met.

Also, I have found that teenagers are usually the best people to help other teens because they understand things the best and have the most empathy for other teens with family and school problems.

As I travel I also like to visit as many schools as I can so I can talk about this. I also give talks about conflict resolution, mediation and my new language and philosophy I am developing called Paulish

http://paulish.net

It is a language of peace, empathy, equality and cooperation.

I also want to help spread the importance of alternative education which allows more freedom of choice in what is learned and how it is learned. And I believe a learning environment should be one where no one has the power to punish anyone and everyone is more of an equal member in the group. Also, everyone in the group would care about each other and no one would control the others.

One of my favorite quotes is:

Education is what others do to you. Learning is what you do for yourself.

ABOUT

I have had many life experiences and learned a lot.
I have traveled almost all around the world now.

I love visiting classes of all levels and I also love giving workshops and talks about my travels and life experiences.

PHILOSOPHY

Children are born beautiful. Adults should be more like children instead of vice versa.

We need to have more caring in the world, if we do that we will need less control. Caring works much better for everyone.

Traveling helps you learn what is really important in life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have surfed, hosted and met people via CS. Also held some CS get togethers in Montenegro, Europe when I lived there.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfing opened up a new way of traveling for me when I found out about it. I have met so many interesting people thru CS. When you stay with someone or they stay with you there is a lot of time to really talk to them and get to know them. That is the best thing about it.

And it has been great to see how much people trust each other.

Interests

Writing, alternative education, changing the world, improving society, working for peace. Non-violent communication. Conflict resolution. Youth suicide prevention.

• writing
• education
• traveling
• business
• teaching
• law

Music, Movies, and Books

Hesse, Ghandi, Thoreau, John Lennon's song Imagine.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was saying goodbye to her, a gypsy girl gave me one of her mother's tomatoes for helping her. Many people told me the gypsies only want to steal, but this girl actually gave me something in return for my help to her and her family.

Later, in another country, a gypsy boy bought me a Coke because I spent time teaching him and trusted him with my camera and my laptop computer.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach about emotions, emotional intelligence, empathy, expressing feelings, listening, non-violent communication, conflict resolution, mediation and "Paulish" - my own language :)

Here is my page on paulish

http://paulish.net/

What I Can Share with Hosts

Because I have traveled so much, and for so long, I have many stories and a lot of experience I can share about life.

I have traveled for about 20 years and have been to about 60 countries.

I have also had my own business in the USA and started a hostel in Europe.

While traveling I like to visit schools and help the English teachers with their classes. I can share with their students the importance of knowing English.

Because I have volunteered as a youth suicide prevention counselor I can also share what I have learned about why young people get depressed and how we can prevent youth suicides. I have given many talks about this in many schools and many countries.

Note about camping in Colonia

There is a place where the "hippies/artesanos" often put their tents. I slept there one night myself. It is right in the center of town.

I can't promise the police will let you stay there but if you put your tents up at night and take them down before 7:30 or so in the morning I think you will be alright.

It is on the beach behind Escuela number 2. There are some trees there. Then there is a short beach that goes for maybe 100 meters until a building where they have a rowing club and a soccer stadium.

I have seen tents there too but behind the school is a bit more hidden

The school is on Rivadavia between Washington Bardo and Intendente Suarez

There is also a private campground outside the city. Here is their FB page

https://www.facebook.com/Camping-Los-Nogales-Colonia-209919542416495/

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Romania, United States, Uruguay

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