I just moved back to Seattle and the PNW from living in Spain for the last year. I did a lot of traveling in a short amount of time and I am exhausted! Here were some of my goals while I lived there:
My goals while I am here for at least a year are to travel around Spain, learn conversational Spanish, see more of Europe in general, and work on my creative projects. I just finished my first full length album of songs I've written and performed on piano and guitar. You can listen here: https://ragingforest.bandcamp.com/releases

My other creative goal is to finish writing a memoir that I started in grad school and to write more songs. I just got a spanish guitar and I'm so excited about it. I also have a podcast project I need to finish. Many things are on the horizon!

I love to read. I just finished The Whistling Song by Stephen Beachy, recommended to me by a friend. It's pretty strange, about an orphan kid who is homeless and in love with his best friend. They hitchhike around the United States and experience a lot of strange things, and a lot of violence. There's a lot of references to pop culture and philosophy and science in it. Other recent books I've read are, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Color of Water by James McBride, and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Lots of memoirs! And a book by my friend Craven Rock called Days and Nights in a Dark Carnival: time spent with Juggalos.

I am also an avid cyclist and enjoy going on long or short bike rides around the city, or cycling tours for a week or a month at a time.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on couchsurfing because four years ago I traveled around Europe with my best friend and we had the best time meeting people through couchsurfing. We made friends with some amazing people and we still know them today. I love getting to know a city through the eyes of someone who lives there and loves the city or the country. More recently I lived in Spain for a year and used couchsurfer again and I've been having a renewed interest in it and an all around great time even just showing up randomly for events posted or if I post a last minute call.

Interests

making art, playing my own music (I play guitar and piano and write songs and if you have a guitar or piano I'll happily oblige you with a few songs!), food, cooking, playing, drinking, traveling, biking, swimming naked, eating chocolate, drinking coffee, writing poetry and meeting new people.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• poetry
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• piano
• cycling
• swimming

Music, Movies, and Books

I always say that Huck Finn is my favorite book, but really it's whatever book I happen to be engrossed with at the moment. I've also read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy three times. I wrote above what books I've been reading lately and they're all wonderful. I'm also reading From Socrates to Sartre, an introduction to philosophy by T.Z. Levine.

I've watched the first three seasons of True Blood 3 times in a row waiting for the 4th season to come out. That was years ago and I was obviously obsessed. Then interest waned after season 5. I finished Jessica Jones very quickly and can't believe they don't have a second season out already. I loved the Sherlock Holmes series and have watched a lot of Peaky Blinders.

I like pop music a lot, like Sia, Beyonce, Rhianna, even Justin Bieber, that guy gets you when you least expect it. But then I get sick of pop music and I need more sad bastard type stuff, like Bon Iver, Jose Gonzalez, Julien Baker, Damien Jurado. And I like everything in between. When I finally saw some Flamenco in Madrid, I cried during the first hour.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've biked the west coast of the United States thrice now!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am a great cook and I clean up well after myself. I am also a great conversationalist and I am really fun to be around. I will also play you a song or three if you have a guitar handy!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States