CURRENT MISSION

To grow, expand, and educate myself about the beautifully diverse cultures of the world one at a time until my heart is content! Most recently, I have graduated a bootcamp in Data Science/Machine Learning, looking to tap into this challenging but worthwhile field, with sights set on making a real difference in this world 💪🏼. The current goal is to acquire a remote position for a respected company so that I can earn a living while abroad in Colombia with my significant other.

ABOUT ME

Passionate, persistent, patient, empathetic, adventurous, and holding high integrity...that about sums me up. Grew up in a small town in Minnesota, moved to San Diego, California for 10 years, bounced around the globe with a backpack, and now interested in relocating to Colombia more permanently with my amazing girlfriend while pursuing unicorn start-ups 😅

PHILOSOPHY

Life is long and the world is HUGE...despite popular belief. In the words of Mark Twain, "Travel is fatal to prejudice"...thank you CSing for starving prejudice of its gluttonous ways. Now for the rest of you, paint that canvas any which way you desire, light your life on fire, and strive to inspire!

Everything you have EVER wanted is on the other side of fear!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

July 2024 updating commencing! I'm looking to get back into full swing of hosting/meeting you beautiful people. I moved back to my home state of Minnesota in 2016 after 10 years in San Diego, California. After having created a successful Hipcamp (see Tumbleweed Base Camp in Detroit Lakes, MN), it had tested my ability to find that niche in hospitality in addition to hosting CouchSurfers, while prepping what is to come, the South American version 😉. I am happy to say that the frequency for staying connected with the site has improved in recent months, and I'm glad that the spirit is still alive and well for those who support a more inclusive lifestyle, honoring the fascinating cultures around the world.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

What started it all...a 3 month stint over in Europe in 2009, having surfed a couch while in Maribor, Slovenia, my CouchSurfing days were born! Her name was Eva and the concert was Schengenfest 😀 2 years later I organized a trip to treat my father to a trip of a lifetime and paid for both of us to enjoy 5 weeks of backpacking throughout Southeast Asia where my pops (59) and I CouchSurfed in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam! 2016 onward has brought a plethora of adventures in South America traversing a lap around the continent, learning Spanish, developing a deep admiration for Latin Culture, and even a burning desire to reside there more permanently seeking retirement and an overall healthy lifestyle, body and mind.

Now that 100's of CouchSurfers have come into my life, I still continue to fight the good fight and spread the love. As cliché as it is to say, may we continue to be the change we wish to see in this world.

Interests

⛳️🎾🎱🎳🏂🎣...in order of seriousness 😝

Hobbies...🌎📷🃏🚯...and some of the standards, hiking, beach, and camping...

Philosophizing with PEOPLE from various cultures (I can't seem to get enough when it comes to sharing theories/values with another with respect for their traditions/beliefs/etc.)

Bucket 📜 (to do)

✅ Go Skydiving

⭕️ Travel 7 Continents

✅ Learn Spanish

⭕️ Learn Portuguese

⭕️ Learn to play a musical instrument

⭕️ Create a Brilliant App/Bring Invention to Mass Market

✅ Find one of those Soulmates I keep hearing about 😄

• photography
• concerts
• festivals
• dining
• technology
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• skydiving
• tennis
• golf
• beaches
• lakes
• sustainability
• hostels
• sustainable development
• data science
• latin culture
• share economy

Music, Movies, and Books

🎥 The Dark Knight, Into The Wild, Kinsey, The Fifth Element, Jim Carrey Classics (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, etc.), Sin City, Baraka, Samsara, Caddyshack, The Illusionist, Man of the Year, Snatch, American History X, Thank You For Smoking, 12 Monkeys, Resident Evil 1 & 2, Garden State, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Out Cold, Kung Fu Hustle, Pay It Forward (fitting don't you think?), Moonrise Kingdom, Grand Budapest Hotel, Crash, V for Vendetta, Kill Bill Collection, Magnolia, Requiem For A Dream, Blow, I am Sam, Seven, Saw (the series), Empire Records, Pulp Fiction, Go

🎵 Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Wilderado, Glass Animals, Alt J, The Kickdrums, Max Frost, The Black Keys, Mason Jennings, El Búho, Bonobo, BoomBox, The Last Shadow Puppets, Dispatch, Foreign Air, The National, Phosporescent, Slenderbodies, Nahko Bear And Medicine For The People, The Revivalists, Nassau, Kevin Morby, Greyhounds, Paolo Nutini, Trash Panda, Little Hurricane, Rumspringa, Michael Franti and Spearhead, The Growlers, Crooked Colours, Manchester Orchestra, The Districts

📚 Daniel Quinn - ISHMAEL
Jeremy Rifkin - 3rd Industrial Revolution
Rolf Potts - Vagabonding
Matthew Kepnes - Ten Years A Nomad
Daniel Pinchbeck - Breaking Open the Head
Gregory Roberts - Shantaram
Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Although I'm not sure if it constitutes as 'Amazing', but I rather enjoyed this particular evening. I had flown back to my hometown in northwest Minnesota towards the end of July 2008 to visit friends/family & also for what was then 10KLF (10,000 Lakes Festival was a concert that took place over 4 days with 60 bands playing 4 stages with campgrounds completely surrounding the massive concert bowl. The bands consist of a variety of underground/independent music, often times jam bands that produce exquisite tunes that exceed (in my opinion) overall complexity to those offered in mainstream music. So anyway, I am there looking to meet as many travelers as possible, knowing that they had came from all over the States to be a part of this show among many others. As I'm standing in line to get some food, I get to chatting with a couple individuals & decided to buy food for everybody behind me in line, only asking in return for their presence or 5 minutes to reminisce and see what they're about...their 'story'. It more or less blew them away and they all responded by spending a great deal of time with me, sharing openly about who they are and what joys have come into their lives through festivals! It was very emotional for me to witness the facial expressions that can be generated through a simple act of kindness, I encourage everyone to try it more often 😉

Just a few other notables:

~ Hiked to the tops of some of the Swiss Alps
~ Enjoyed nude beaches in Cinque Terre, Italy
~ Gathered with 50+ fellow CouchSurfers at a big meeting at a restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand
~ Toured the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland
~ Wine tasted and castle toured along the Rhine River in Germany
~ CouchSurfed with my father in SE Asia (worth mentioning twice)
~ Took a 3-day jungle trek in Chiang Mai, sleeping on bamboo, riding elephants, petting tigers, and the like
~ Jammed out at Electric Poncho 2014/2015 in the Guadalupe Canyon
~ Coasted down the Mekong river from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang
~ Completed the 'W' in Torres del Paine, Chile
~ Hiked a volcano to 18,350' in San Pedro de Atacama
~ Ventured through the Bolivian Amazon (piranhas, crocodiles, pink dolphins and more)
~ Partook in an extravagant wedding in Río de Janeiro
~ Rode a horse across the dunes of Jericoacoara as the sun dipped into the sea

Teach, Learn, Share

I can make some mean craft cocktails after 16 years of bartending and I can bake some killer gingerbread/molasses cookies. Oh I have also competed professionally in Long Drive Competitions in golf...I have hit golfballs over 400 yards before (or 365.8 meters for the rest of the world), so there's that. I have always placed a high concern on peace promoting, concert-going, and financial advising, hoping that it will enrich the lives of others around me.

Knowledge I hope to gain; I would like to learn to speak Spanish more fluently and how to play an instrument.

What I Can Share with Hosts

After suffering a tough loss (my uncle passed from a fall in his own house), my father had inherited his property and I decided to move back to show support for him and make the significant effort to recondition the home. We have 5 1/2 acres and an 1800 sq. ft. barn which is located close to an outdoor recreational area (Skiing/Snowboarding/Tubing/Mountain Biking) and I have now converted this property into a registered Hipcamp (think airbnb but for camping), having hosted probably 500-700 people over the past several years for those in search of an intimate, budget-friendly, community-styled atmosphere 🏕️

Total Honesty and Genuine appreciation for the CouchSurfers of the world ❤️

We also have tennis racquets, whiffle ball, frisbee golf, fishing equipment, bumper pool, ping pong and glo-bocci ball!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Laos, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia, United States

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