I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, United States, and in all of my travels I still think that it is one of the best places in the U.S. Granted I have to acknowledge my bias since I’ve only briefly seen the rest of the country. Fulfilling the PNW stereotype, I love the outdoors. Living right next the Cascade mountains my entire life has made it hard for me to comprehend any other way of life. When I’m staying in I am likely reading about someone else’s adventures or history. I have found that the best way to explore a new area is on foot because I interact with the environment and the locals. A close second to this is by motorcycle. During the summer I am almost only ever using my bike for transportation, even when it is an inconvenience. While I miss out on the chance to socialize, I have seen much more of wilderness on my motorbike than any other way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Throughout my travels the friends I make along the way have increased my enjoyment of every experience. I haven’t met a stranger yet and am always happy to make a new friend. A majority of my friends from living in Costa Rica wouldn't have been made if I was reluctant to take on a new adventure with them. Similarly, I think it follows that this is one of the best ways to get to know people and to make friends across the globe. I would rather crash on a friend’s futon than on a queen mattress in a hotel any day of the week.

Interests

• running
• motorcycles
• reading
• live music
• hiking
• history
• food
• exploring

Music, Movies, and Books

Music-Mostly folk such as the Avett Brothers, Trampled by Turtles, Mandolin Orange, the War and Treaty, and the Head and the Heart.
I also dig alt-rock like the Foo fighters, The Black Keys, John Van Deusen, Josh Ritter, and Lord Huron.
A few books that have greatly influenced me are Travels with Charlie-John Stienbeck, Walden-Henry David Thoreua, Leaves of Grass- Walt Whitman, Crime and Punishment- Fydor Dostoyevsky, and Beloved-Toni Morrison
I am currently hooked on watching The Mandalorian, Stranger Things, This is Us, and Peaky Blinders

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This summer I had the opportunity to ride my motorbike coast to coast starting in Portland, Oregon to Buffalo, New York. I had barely put a thousand of my own miles on the bike, and by the end of the trip it had well over 7,000 more. Most of my days had well over 500 miles of riding and some more hard-pressed days tipped over 1,000 miles. I wasn’t prepared to be rained on from Denver to Buffalo but even so only two of my nights were spent in hotels. Once was in Nebraska when I had ridden over ten hours in the rain, my bike had nearly run out of gas, and I was blue and shaking. The silver lining here is that I made a friend with another bike who I met up with a week later in Portland, Maine. The other time I got a hotel room I pulled into Bozeman, Montana, at ten at night and was expecting the temperature to dip beneath freezing and I didn’t want to put my sleeping bags temp rating to the test. The other nights I either met up with one of my friends scattered across the states or found a little nook to throw down my sleeping bag and call it a day. Although there were some hiccups with tire treads and unforgiving weather, I wouldn’t want to change one bit of such an amazing adventure across the United States.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Honduras, Israel, Malawi, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, United States