CURRENT MISSION

Transcend time and space...

ABOUT ME

I'm interested in learning about and doing pretty much everything. Except a few things that scruples limit. I'm all about balancing individual growth and freedom with committing oneself to the collective good. Spontaneously allowing the unexpected to happen and to react accordingly. Listening, understanding, and sharing different points of view is effortlessly stimulating to me.

PHILOSOPHY

"Don't think; feeel. It's like a finger pointing a way to the moon...DON'T concentrate on the finger, or you will miss alllll that heavenly glory." -Bruce Lee

And, if you do have to think, make your thoughts and your deeds the same.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I think i've gotten about fifteen people to join so far, but more to come. I like bringing up the concept to people and seeing which reaction they take. Whether they think it's crazy, or if they're with it. And every now and then someone who is on the edge opens their mind and gets involved I'm always happy to offer anything i have, and love meeting people who value sharing and human interaction more than they value possessions.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

One of my favorites. Not through CS, though: I'm riding a bicycle through Mexico by myself, and i stop at someone's ranch in the middle of nowhere after dark to ask if i can pitch my tent on the grass. The man of the family says "sí" and seems to think it's a strange request. In the time it takes me to get my tent up he's decided to come out and tell me to put my tent away and come in to have dinner with his family. Some tough conversation for my then remedial Spanish, a great homemade meal and some fresh-squeezed warm milk later and i'm sleeping soundly on a mattress on the roof. Man, it's little things like this that put into perspective that stale fear that spreads throughout comfortable societies and refreshes my faith in humanity.

Interests

Skiing/snowboarding, reading, volunteering my time, languages, yerba mate, yoga, sports in general, talking philosophy, hitchhiking, trying to dance, nutrition, taking all my stuff out of my backpack!, bike riding, movies, campin', all night breakfast places after a late one, spending time with friends, learning stuff, eating, cooking, living, loving, laughing, etc.

• culture
• beauty
• dancing
• cooking
• breakfast
• yoga
• movies
• reading
• socializing
• music
• cycling
• backpacking
• kayaking
• skiing
• snowboarding
• sports
• languages
• hitchhiking
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Fletch, Enter the Dragon, I Heart Huckabees, Cafe de Flore, Seven Samurai, Red Beard, Twilight Samurai, Brick, Drunken Master 1&2, Food Inc., Who Killed the Electric Car, Big Trouble in Little China, Intouchables, Shaolin Soccer, Pan’s Labyrinth, Cyrano de Bergerac, Rushmore, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, Fight Club, Trainspotting, Amelie, City of Lost Children, Pulp Fiction, Harold and Maude, Constant Gardener, Office Space, Friday, Happy Gilmore, Emperor's New Groove, Sword in the Stone, Gods Must Be Crazy, Ed Wood, 8 1/2, Borat, Eddie Murphy:Raw, Jump Tomorrow, Snatch, Booty Call, Im Juli, Forrest Gump, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Back to the Future, Big Night, Matrix, Raiders of the Lost Ark, V for Vendetta, Across the Universe, and that's just the tip of the iceberg...

Music: Jimi, Jurassic 5, Duke Ellington, Wax Taylor, Hocus Pocus, Glen Miller, Led Zeppelin, RJD2, Aretha, RATM, Blue Scholars, Arrested Development, Bob Dylan, Dead Prez, Common Market, Beck, Paul Simon, Sublime, Michael Franti, Rancid/Operation Ivy, White Stripes, Mozart, Buena Vista, Chili Peppers...

Books: Hamlet was the bomb, Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness changed my life, MLK's 'autobiography' inspired me right down to my soul, Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, Tao te Ching, Three Cups of Tea, El Alquimista, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The China Study, Le Petit Prince, anything Noam Chomsky, Erich Fromm, George Orwell, Henry Thoreau, Aldous Huxley, John Steinbeck, Jon Krakauer, Ayn Rand’s essays on objectivity; i love hearing what they have to say on life. Also, Tom Robbins, Vonnegut, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Jeffrey Deaver, Dan Brown. Ann Rice makes me want to be a vampire so bad! And, of course, my heroes, Usagi Yojimbo and Fone Bone!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Kayaking in Alaska, surrounded by humpback whales bubblefeeding within feet. At sunset. Water was dead calm. Silence except for the hundreds of little birds circling around picking up what's left from the whales, and the sounds of the whales moaning and breathing. I've never felt so intensely immersed in nature.

Teach, Learn, Share

It seems to me that people who are truly happy have cultivated in themselves the ability to recognize and appreciate beauty in even the most "mundane" things around them, and can truly hear the music, taste the fruit, and experience love.
Also-if we stay limited to our own respective cultures, then we will be susceptible to all of that one culture's shortcomings. But if we diversify we can replace those shortcomings with wisdom from other cultures and continue to enrich ourselves and others around us. And no matter how old and opinionated you get, make sure to humble yourself and challenge your beliefs!
"You must first erase the blackboard before you can write something new."

What I Can Share with Hosts

Eager conversation, friendship, a homemade dinner or breakfast if the occasion calls, or perhaps some beers or wine, a space as clean or cleaner than I got it, or maybe something else, who knows?

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Guatemala, Israel, Mexico

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