I am a generally curious person who wants to travel to places. I'd like to get to know people and their backgrounds. Yes, the world is beautiful, but the people of the world, more so.

I am a designer, former product engineer, currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina. I love food, music, and generally spending good time with good people. A slight chill in the night air, sitting around a fire with good people, having conversations about anything and everything, maybe a bottle of beer or a glass of whiskey in hand--on a mountain, on the cool sands of a beach, on an open lawn, or even in a nice backyard--that's a pretty perfect way to end a day for me.

I love trying out new food, especially that local to the place I'm visiting. However my culinary expertise begins and ends with fried eggs.

Music--I'm beginning to get into the American indie scene. I've primarily been more into European artists, but recently having been exposed to small, intimate venues and relatively unknown bands just playing for their love of music, I've been enchanted and want to explore and discover more. If you're into the local scene, wherever you are, I have much to learn from you. I especially love the acoustic sound of stringed instruments.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Get the local experience. Airbnb tends to be very impersonal most of the time. I love meeting people from different cultures and learning about them, their ways, and probably most importantly, their food. :)

Interests

• music
• guitar
• beaches
• mountains
• food
• gaming
• stars

Music, Movies, and Books

I love ambient neofolk music, mostly from the Scandinavian countries. I also love Indian and western classical, neoclassical, classic rock, and psychedelic.

I tend to love movies by Bergman, Satyajit Ray, Kurosawa, Kubrick. I have a long list here.

I love reading books! I started with mostly fantasy; I'm a huge Tolkien fan. More recently I've begun reading more books about psychology, philosophy, anthropology, design, and education. I am influenced by Seymour Papert, Marvin Minsky, Negroponte, and Alan Kay.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Within a period of two days:
Flew to Florida, shuttled from the gulf to the Atlantic coast for sunrises and sunsets, tried awesome food, made awesome friends, drove on the beach, participated in a drum circle in the dead of the night on the cool sand of the beach; within a budget of $150--flights and rental car inclusive.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would love to learn about your city, your culture, your background. I'd love to know about you and your life, if you're comfortable sharing.

I am a beginner guitar player and would love to jam along with you, given that you take the lead. :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my take on the Indian culture and traditions. How my perspective on things has changed, having stayed in the USA for three years now.

I also know several Indian languages including Hindi, which is the language spoken in most of North India and in the Bollywood movies. I can help translate Bollywood songs for you for laughs--those translations tend to be super funny, haha.

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, United States