CURRENT MISSION

we're on a practice run for a full-time nomadic lifestyle. unfortunately we are currently not in the states. karen is in abu dhabi and pedro is in saudi arabia, in dhahran. so if you are coming through either of these places, then we are hosting!!

ABOUT ME

We love to experience life, and we find it easy to do this when traveling. We heard recently from a friend that people are only aware of things when doing them for the first time, and we believe this to be largely true, so we're always trying new things.

We tend to run against convention. So we do "crazy" things like quit our full time jobs in an economic recession, build a simple but functional greywater system even though clean water is still considered abundant, and prefer a cafe conversation with a local over standing in line at the Louvre. But, we are conventional in ways that seem to have become unfortunately less common, like providing what we can as hosts and cleaning up after ourselves as guests. Pedro actually has a life goal to make it so that when Karen is very old, she will say her husband always, always opened the door for her. Chivalry goes a long way.

We talk easily. Okay, that's an understatement. Our friends laugh that the reason we got together is because we can both talk as much as the other. But we also really enjoy listening to new perspectives; the more a version of reality differs from our own, the more we can learn.

I, Pedro, also have produced a couple of TV programs, made two short films, presided over a film festival for three years, and currently host a public television quiz show for high school knowledge teams. Episodes of this program, the Apple Bowl, can be viewed at Click on 'programs' and then click on the Apple Bowl. You can meet me on TV! (PS-I don't dress like that at home! My kids say that I look like a vagabond most of the time! What can I say, I do remodel and repair so why dress nice?!)

We spend exorbitant amounts of time outside. We're outside now, and probably will be when you read this. When at home, we sit by our chiminea so often that our neighbor recently asked us if we moved out there into our outside "living room." People drop by all the time, and we rarely have to throw a party formally, as they seem to happen in an impromptu fashion at least once every couple of weeks, just by the coincidence of various friends meeting in our yard. Wait a minute, do they like us, or just the local beer we keep on tap...?

We enjoy going to Burning Man-have gone the last five years! Love to talk with others about the amazing culture and the quality of people found there.

PHILOSOPHY

suck the marrow out of life and try to live 3 lifetimes in this one. enjoy everything as long as it doesn't hurt other people.

Что привело меня на Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Our way of traveling, through couch surfing or not, is to payback using our fix-it skills. As an example, we stayed with a new friend for the first time who we had met in a remote hot spring and clicked with. Brushing our teeth, we noticed that the sink drained really slowly, an annoyance they had all been dealing with for a while, but didn't know how to fix. Pedro fixed it the next morning while Karen weeded the garden, and we left after breakfast.

We believe the best way to participate in the couch surfing project is to be active participants in life. Sharing human community and restoring the belief that strangers are not scary, they are friends you haven't met yet, has the biggest long-term impact on the world.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Before couch surfing was known to us as an organized thing, we have hosted and been hosted many dozens of times. Because our friends know we are open to sharing our couch, we have often had new people sharing our home for a night or two. We always figured the karma would bring us into other good peoples' homes, and it has, repeatedly.

At this time, September of 2013, we have hosted couch surfers on six occasions.

Typically, we stay with people for a night, and folks stay with us for a night or two. We are very flexible though, and if it's working, we don't mind longer stays either way.

Интересы

Establishing and maintaining human relationships

music, particularly live, intimate scenes

building and landscaping

good local beer, particularly when paired with a fine meal

applied metaphysics

camping, nature

• culture
• writing
• fashion
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• wine
• beer
• running
• partying
• drinking
• gardening
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• survival
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• astronomy
• history
• languages

Музыка, кино и книги

current reads: The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan; Rain Gods by James Lee Burke

we just made the switch to netflix and are loving it. we like all kinds of movies, but mostly agree on the mix of drama/ psychological thriller/ action/ sci fi mix. American Beauty, Reign Over Me, Ironman, Memento, etc.

Karen will read anything about spirituality, applied metaphysics, or psychology. This is book candy.

Pedro will read about military history, detective fiction, graphic novels.

We like all kinds of music, and are big Pandora fans. We are currently hooked on a Santana radio station, and one we made after the song Love Is a Revolution.

Классная вещь, которую я сделал(-а)

Karen: I ran an ultramarathon

Pedro: I sat in a restaurant in Paris during one rainy day, ALL day, playing games, doing crosswords, eating great food, drinking great wine, and watching passersby with my lovely wife.

Учу, учусь, делюсь опытом и информацией

We can "teach" about:
languages
writing
hiking, outdoor spots to sweat to
outdoor survival
traveling cheaply and luxuriously
living life differently
creative visualization

We'd like to learn about:
local culture and history of places
languages
cooking/ food prep
outdoor survival stuff
astronomy
hobbies done with the hands (masonry, building, metal fabrication, crafty things)
native edible and medicinal plants