CURRENT MISSION

To explore Hawaiian islands!

ABOUT ME

My name is Jonathan Zinke, I am currently a student working towards a degree in Environmental Policy from Humboldt State University, which is a gorgeous college nestled in the heart of the Redwood forest on the north coast of California. Aside from my studies I am also leading a group of student activists on my campus that are pushing our board of directors to cut ties with the energy company Shell who is currently providing most of our campus’ energy from unsafe and hazardous fossil fuels.

When I am not occupying my time with studies and activism I enjoy nothing more than exposing myself to new cultures and ideas and making new friends along the way. It is fact that anything is possible while on the road and there is never any shortage of surprises along the way, I have met some of the most beautiful people in my life while traveling including meeting my wife Eri whom I met while bumming around Tokyo in early 2010, so travel is definitely good for the soul!

Travel is also good for exposing oneself to new cultures and ideas that you may not have otherwise considered. It is my opinion that nothing is more important or valuable than ideas; they are the windows through which we look out onto the world, they grant us with perspective, governing our moral assertions and steadfast values, they give us the tools necessary to peer through the kaleidoscopes of reality so as to be able to interpret the artifacts we discover along the journey. I am fascinated by ideas and strive to grasp every new concept I encounter. Some I stick with longer than others and among those that have struck me as most significant are the political landscapes of our modern age and the histories that brought us here and the connectedness of all things, most importantly our connectedness to the biosphere and its vast community of life on planet Earth to which we belong.

I am an autocrat at heart and find the joys in life to be hidden under every rock and behind every corner. I am an avid reader of philosophy, science, and current events, I believe that we are living in the thick of the second major renaissance and I plan to be a part of it! So much is changing in our world on truly stupefying scales that many people forget to fully appreciate the awesomeness of our age. Just consider that we are exposed to as much new information in a single day as an average person was exposed to in a year at the time of the American Civil War, or even more wild of a thought, what a person twenty or even ten years ago would have said to you if you had told them about a network like CS'ing? They would have probably thought you to be a crackpot at best, unless of course you were sharing that information with a crazy, in which case you would be enjoying a different sort of rabbit whole conversation and in perfect company.

Over the years my quest has brought me to the realization that our world is today hanging by a tiny thread in the balance a conclusion that has left me stupefied as to why so many of among us continue to sleepwalk through their lives and wakewalk through their dreams, it is not after all every generation that is afforded the opportunity to shape the future course of history so dramatically as we now have the chance to do now. It is an opportunity we have been afforded and one that could spell doom to the whole of the community of life on Earth should we fail in its task, for our planet is either going to tip on the side of total and utter collapse, or it will tip into a rebirth, and I am ashamed to admit that I believe in such an ultimatum but I have drawn this conclusion out over a long space of time and have judged the situation as self evident.

But I am an optimist, I do believe that we humans are ready for the challenge and are capable of accomplishing anything we put our minds to, we have a reserve of over seven billion minds to draw from after all, and many of the best are right here among us in the CSing community! For that I am proud to be here!

PHILOSOPHY

We must make every effort at every moment to act with humility, kindness, generosity, compassion, and awareness towards every living being we encounter along our paths, our very survival and the survival of the whole of the biotic community depends upon our good will; we are the children and stewards of our mother Earth and we have a duty to win the fight for humanity against the nefarious forces that threaten to destroy it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Aside from traveling as often as we can my wife Eri and I are always very excited to meet fellow travelers at home, as long as you don't catch us during midterms or finals week we can find a spot for you in our humble apartment to take shelter in along your journey.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hands down the best CS'ing experience I have had, and don't plan on topping, was meeting my wife for the first time in front of the Hachiko statue at Shibuya-eki in Tokyo!

Interests

People, travel, environmental issues, world issues, political issues, science, philosophy, camping, back country, literature, musical artists, film, storytelling, and life!

• writing
• literature
• education
• traveling
• drawing
• survival
• camping
• teaching
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

I am an avid believer in self-education, each person must find their own path to enlightenment, mine is being found through the writings and teachings of Chris Hedges, Naomi Kline, Noam Chomsky, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Amy Goodman, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, Dr. Cornell West, Tim Flannery, Bill McKibbon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandella, David Suzuki, Desmond Tutu, Slavoj Zizek, Wangari Maathai, Mahatma Gandhi, and so many countless others.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was 16-years-old I spent several months traveling around Europe out of a tent with my parents, an experience I regret not fully appreciating until I was a few years older!

Teach, Learn, Share

Lao Tzu wrote:

"To know read
To learn write
To master teach"

“I never let schooling interfere with my education.” -Mark Twain

Knowledge is power! - Unknown author

Nuf said!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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