Couch surfing suits me because life is about connecting to people, learning from people, Caring for people. On micro and macro levels—

I was a very homebody nerdly sort until at the age of 45 I realized that life was an adventure and I was leaving the shire. So, 5 years younger than Bilbo! I started walking and dropped 60 lbs. (27 kilos)

I was born in Hawaii, grew up in Texas, have always been a person who questioned things, wanted to meet people who thought differently. I got two degrees in religion/textual criticism but have a skeptical/science oriented worldview that also embraces the poetic, spiritual.

embracing Curiousity, Empathy, Compassion, and being playful/silly have changed my life. Antidepressants were a great boon to me but I have been off of them for 5 years with no depression. And I am thankful.

Travel is not just something I love, it is a metaphor for my life. When I get stuck in my head, I start walking/hiking/moving.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

One can get a hostel cheap. but you do not get to meet locals as easily, and having a connection to someone local for me moves it from "holiday" or "Travel" to experience, adventure, learning.

I want to meet people and hear their stories. I often forget what restaurant I ate in or what I had but I remember people and their stories.

Everything in the universe is connected and I have come to the time of my life where I want to embrace things and be in the now.

Interests

I just am figuring out now that live is an adventure and the world is a wide and varied place. I want to embrace risk and live life out of a sense of curiousity, openness, and joy.

I am a reader and a video gamer. (Skyrim, Fallout series, Morrowind, Dishonored, etc.) I have been sedentary my whole life but for last year have walked 6 miles a day. Lost 66 lbs!

I like RPGs like D and D. Also film especially indie films. My first watched indie film was My dinner with Andre when I was 15 in west texas.

I feel more than ever, thinking globally and acting locally is the key to making the world a better place.

• writing
• video games
• reading
• music
• hiking
• camping
• positive psychology
• tabletop rpgs
• peacebuilding
• nachos
• elder scrolls

Music, Movies, and Books

I have a tattoo from Bram Stoker's Dracula and a Tattoo related to Harry Potter. edit (now two more!)
and my wallet is the one from Pulp Fiction so that gives you a clue or two.

I love sci fi and horror and fantasy. (I read Game of Thrones before the show) I just read Rising Strong by Brene Brown. Amazing.

I watched an insane amount of indie films from UK and Ireland over the last 20 years. the first was Gregory's Girl and I was hooked.

Lovecraft is one of my favorites even though his actual writing style is a bit wooden and stilted...it was his ideas and concepts that wooed me.

My musical tastes are nothing to brag about. I wish I was highbrow but I am not. If it came out in the 80s I heard it, and I love New Wave, Industrial, Dubstep, Gary Numan! outlaw country like johnny cash and willie nelson. Sappy stuff like Abba. But also Rob Zombie, Some metal. Went through a huge Enya clannad phase and hosted a celtic music radio show at Odessa College in the 1990s.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Amazing? I don't know if that has happened yet.

Working in mental health and healthcare has given me opportunies to see people put their lives and hearts back together. I think it is amazing when people reach out to offer empathy and kindness to other. #brenebrown that is how I want to be.

Teach, Learn, Share

Not sure what this would be?

My degrees and expertise are in the field of social work/theology. And I doubt people want to have someone come and talk to them about family of origin issues or their existential anxiety, etc. and play social worker!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Well, I have a pretty decent grasp of the sociology of America. I have always been a student of history, psychology, sociology, religion.

I grew up in a very conservative christian bubble. Actually from the West Texas town that George Bush lived in. If you want crazy stories about life in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina from a laid back liberal from Austin-San Antonio, I am your man. I spent a while in social work and then drug rehab (as a counselor) and have seen a lot of the things poverty, addiction, and abuse can do. But I am, after too long a time of cynicism, become a hopeful but not pollyannish person.

Becoming a very progressive, semi-agnostic, Bernie style socialist has been an interesting journey being in Texas and the South. I feel like I have done a lot in the life of the mind. And now it is time for me to see the world and learn from other people. I spent a lot of the first 40 years of my life talking and I feel like now I realize what I want to be doing is listening.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, Portugal, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Czech Republic, United States