MISSION: Exploring the world...sharing experiences...creating open minds...)'(

PASSIONS: There are three things about which I am most passionate...

Teaching: I have taught in universities, professional conferences, and small villages in third world countries to both adults and to children (mainly math, science, and technology). My belief is that a person really never knows a topic in depth until he or she has taught it. Students will challenge the teacher to think differently about a subject when it is taught well. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the "light go on" when a student comprehends an important concept.

Music: I believe that music is a means of communication that transcends all cultural barriers. Music can communicate joy, sorrow, stories of courage, political messages, and just about everything that one can express with feelings of passion. My mother was a professional musician (classical cellist) and I was a DJ for 15+ years in my days of being a student (which lasted a very long time...). My musical tastes are as diverse as they are obscure. I listen to music of all kinds and from all nationalities. Live music performances are even better!

Travel: One must explore to experience this world. I love nature and the outdoors. I am passionate about art of all kinds (music, painting, sculpture, architecture) and am constantly seeking out the diversity of its many forms that exist on our globe. People, culture, food, history, and architecture are all part and parcel to a fulfilling travel experience. Would you like to be happy...I would recommend to buy less stuff and travel more!

PHILOSOPHY:

Part I:

* I am more interested in what I can create than in what I can consume.
* I am more interested in what I can share than in what I can own.
* I am more interested in living my own life rather than viewing others on television or the big screen.
* I think for myself and choose my own heroes.

Part II:

The Seven Deadly Sins:

1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle

Mahatma Gandhi
October 22, 1925

The Eighth Deadly Sin:

8. Rights without responsibility

Arun Gandhi

Part III:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

-Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

Part IV:

"Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it."
-Malcolm Wallace

Part V:

“Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage."
– Paulo Coelho

Part VI:

Age is more of a frame of mind than it is a count of years. I am convinced that I am much "younger" than most people that have fewer than half my number of years. Keep curious and keep learning to stay young. I very often host and surf with people having many fewer years than I because it keeps me young!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I surf whenever I can when I am traveling and if I am not arriving too late at night. I love the couchsurfing culture of sharing and experiencing with others. Strangers are simply friends that you have not yet met!

As a student I was a member of an international student association (AIESEC) and my dorm room was the Boston couch surfers crashing pad of choice for members of this club. Fellow students on my floor joked that I was running a free youth hostel out of my dorm room. I still have ongoing contact and friendships with many of those couch surfers from 25+ years ago!

Interests

Teaching, Music, International Travel, Photography, Chess, Hiking, Scrabble, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee.

Any and all new experiences!

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• culture
• books
• literature
• architecture
• photography
• burningman
• dancing
• politics
• technology
• chess
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• live music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• volleyball
• teaching
• history
• mathematics
• science
• mountain biking
• tomorrowland
• ultimate frisbee
• scrabble
• edc
• nick cave
• dei
• black rock ranger

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite books of all time: Crime and Punishment, Ender's Game
Most influential authors: Kahlil Gibran, Yuval Harari

Random selection of authors from my book shelf:

Douglas Adams
Richard Adams
Piers Anthony
Jeffrey Archer
Isaac Asimov
Jean Auel
L. Frank Baum
Ray Bradbury
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Terry Brooks
Edgar Rice Burroughs
James Cain
Orson Scott Card
Raymond Chandler
Lee Child
Tom Clancy
Mary Higgins Clark
Larry Collins
Robin Cook
Patricia Cornwell
Michael Crichton
Jeffery Deaver
Nelson DeMille
Phillip Dick
Charles Dickens
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dave Eggers
Linda Fairstein
William Faulkner
Robert Fisk
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ken Follet
Frederick Forsyth
Kahlil Gibran
Malcom Gladwell
Sue Grafton
Graham Greene
John Grisham
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Harris
Robert Heinlein
Ernest Hemingway
James Herriot
Jack Higgins
Khaled Hosseini
Robert E. Howard
Robert Jordan
Jonathan Kellerman
Jack Kerouac
Stephen King
Rudyard Kipling
Donald Knuth
Dean Koontz
Jerzy Kosinski
John Le Carre
Harper Lee
Sinclair Lewis
Robert Ludlum
Alistair MacLean
Nelson Mandela
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Anne McAffrey
James Michener
Geoffrey Moore
Haruki Murakami
John Naisbitt
George Orwell
Amos Oz
Orhan Pamuk
James Patterson
Edgar Alan Poe
Michael Porter
Mario Puzo
Ayn Rand
Sax Rohmer
J.K. Rowling
Carl Sandburg
John Saul
Rod Serling
William Shakespeare
Mary Shelley
Nicholas Sparks
John Steinbeck
Robert Louis Stevenson
JRR Tolkien
Leo Tolstoy
Scott Turow
Mark Twain
Sun Tzu
John Updike
Eric van Lustbader
Jules Verne
H.G. Wells
Oscar Wilde
Cornell Woolrich

I have an exremely diverse taste in music. I will listen to basically everything that is unique and passionate. Here is a random sample (not exhaustive) of what you might find on my ipod on any given day:

10,000 Maniacs
Alanis Morissette
Amy Winehouse
Bauhaus
Big Black
Black Eyed Peas
Bob Marley
Brian Eno
Cocteau Twins
Die Antwoord
Die Toten Hosen
Died Pretty
Dr. John
EWF
Fishbone
Fredric Chopin
Golden Earring
Huggy Bear
Husker Du
James Brown
Jamie Callum
Jamiroquai
Jane's Addiction
Japan
Jet
Jimmy Cliff
Jim Carroll Band
John Lennon
Johnny Cash
Joy Division
J.S. Bach
Judy and Mary
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Kate Bush
Kraftwerk
Kustomized
Laura Love
Laurie Anderson
Leonard Cohen
Little Richard
Los Lobos
Lost Frequencies
Love and Rockets
Ludwig von Beethoven
Midnight Oil
Ministry
Minor Threat
Naked Raygun
Nick Cave
Nina Hagen
Nine Inch Nails
Patti Smith
Paul Simon
Pere Ubu
Peter Gabriel
Powderfinger
Public Image Ltd
Radio Birdman
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Robyn Hitchcock
Rollins Band
Santana
Sezen Aksu
Sinead O'Connor
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Sonic Youth
Suzanne Vega
Talking Heads
The BoDeans
The Cranberries
The Cure
The Del Fuegos
The Doors
The English Beat
The Flamin' Groovies
The Grateful Dead
The Hives
The Misfits
The Pixies
The Pushtwangers
The Replacements
The Residents
The Runaways
The Soft Boys
The Specials
The Stranglers
The Velvet Underground
TISM
Tom Waits
Tracy Chapman
Van Morrison
Vaya Con Dios
Violent Femmes
Volcano Suns
Wire
X
Yellowman
Youssou N'Dour

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Gave up a traditional lifestyle in favor of traveling the world, meeting people, and sharing experiences. Have met many friends for life that would not have been possible in any other way. Have spent time traveling and working in 150+ countries enjoying the diveristy of people, nature, food, culture, religion, and architecture that this world of ours has to offer. Have visited all fifty states and every national park in the USA.

Teach, Learn, Share

English language, chess, computers, travel tips, almost any undergraduate subject in math or science.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Smiles, conversation, stories from all over the world, travel planning tips in 150+ countries, a good game of chess, practice with English language...the list goes on!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Réunion, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Belgium, Japan, Poland, United Kingdom, United States

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