CURRENT MISSION

Exploration, inspiration, and motivation across the United States.

ABOUT ME

(We created a joint profile since we will be traveling together.)

We met at a concert that I (Sarah) was photographing back in 2007 and have been together since. After we've both lived our whole lives in Arizona, we've exhausted all the dessert has to offer and are seeking out new adventures across the United States. Through our travels we hope to meet people in every city that we can form lasting relationships that are mutually inspiring. We yearn for new concepts, art, architecture, music, and experiences. We know this can't be possible without the help of this amazing online community and we can't wait to see everything it has to offer.

PHILOSOPHY

Aaron: “I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.” -John Steinbeck

Sarah: "Anarchy is an ethic." - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far our only participation has been surfing. When we find where we'd like to live after the trip we'd love to host since we've been shown such phenomenal hospitality.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

After traveling up the west coast from Phoenix we've accrued a good amount of couch surfing experience but we hope to gain more since we still have a long way to go around the country. Currently traveling through the midwest so if you're reading this and are able to host us, that would be amazing!

Interests

Aaron: I'm a huge fan of cinema and music. Out of the two, movies are what I draw from for much of my art, but nothing inspires me more than music. That being said, my largest interests as of late are creating screen prints for film and designing album covers. Also, I'm a huge nerd, so video games and comics have filled my shelves over the years, but I also grew up loving hiking, mountain biking, and sports such as baseball and racquetball.

Sarah: Photography, SUSHI (LOTS OF SUSHI), books, hiking, music (all day everyday), movies, pop culture and I'm open to discover more.

• wildlife
• arts
• culture
• books
• architecture
• photography
• concerts
• comics
• movies
• video games
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sports
• baseball
• racquetball

Music, Movies, and Books

Aaron: If you put my iPod on shuffle, you'd probably either think "this guy doesn't know what the hell he likes" or "holy crap, he's managed to find amazing music in genres I've hated my whole life." I believe music is a more universal language than math, and working at a record store for 6 years didn't hurt either.

I grew up watching movies and loving the art and storytelling behind them, and used to have a collection of over 800 titles. Just... ask me in person.

I grew up reading comic books and that never went away, but my shelves are also occupied by classics by Sayles, Steinbeck, Bukowski, Burroughs, and Orwell, as well as contemporaries by Palahniuk, Garland and Scott-Heron. Mostly comics, though.

Sarah: My musical tastes are expansive but currently I've been into Sango, Flume, Apparat, Moderat, Jungle, Frank Ocean, Foals, Wavves, Dexter, James Blake and SBTRKT. I've also had the new Jay-Z, Kanye, and JT album on repeat for a while. Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, The Pixies and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are definitely my all time favorites.

I can read anything from Chuck Kolsterman and be pleasantly entertained. I admire the works Alex Garland who wrote The Beach and The Tesseract. Rant by Chuck Palahniuk is one of my all time favorite books, as well as Just Kids by Patti Smith. My bookcase is also full of photo books from Annie Lebovitz and Ansel Adams. Kurt Vonnegut is a genius. I also enjoy classic novels such as The Great Gatsby, Ordinary People, Alice in Wonderland, and Brave New World.

I love way too many movies to list them all but my all time favorites are the Rocky series (yes, even the 4th one - come on, 80's montages!), Raging Bull, Closer, There Will Be Blood, Sunshine, The Fountain, Tommy Boy, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, True Romance and Kill Bill.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Aaron: I've seen some shit in my time, but the first thing that comes to mind was witnessed by only one other, and that's when I saw a mosquito land on the ceiling and I shot with a rubber band, sticking it where it landed about 6 feet away. I cherish the little things.

Sarah: Scuba diving in Mexico has to be one of the greatest things I've ever done or seen. Aside from the sound of the bubbles of your breath, it's so still and the way the light shines through the water on the coral and wildlife is phenomenal. Can't wait to do it again sometime.

Teach, Learn, Share

Aaron: I recently found that screen printing is my most passionate form of art. I appreciate the effort, knowledge and patience it takes to create a beautiful print through this method, and can't wait to turn the sketches I'll begin on this trip into stunning, vibrant prints.

Sarah: I have an affinity for Polaroid cameras and love to share. Everyone desires instant gratification but Polaroids are one of the few ways to receive something more than that instantly. As far as learning goes, I want to learn everything I can.

•