CURRENT MISSION

To enliven my existence through experiences both existential and enlightening.

ABOUT ME

Well first of all I am interested in traveling, reading, thinking, photography (I'll be traveling with my camera..if you also have a camera and are interested I'd definitely be down to wander around and shoot some photos.) I like to go out and experience all that a city has to offer: watching street performers, noticing the habits and routines of the local people, drinking and making friends with strangers, that sort of thing.

PHILOSOPHY

I live to be happy. To find out how exactly I tick and what the formula is for my own specific happiness. So far, it's bits here and there of the following: learning, thinking, pursuing, traveling, success with your chosen interests and having the motivation to stick with it,escaping comfort zones, knowing when its ok to be comforted, and above all...human connections.
I really look up to Renee Descartes for sitting down and taking a wrecking ball to his own philosophy and deciding whether it is sound enough to stay, or rickity enough to be demolished and start all over from the foundation.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I haven't tried it out yet but am eager to try it out. I've heard great things from a few friends that both highly recommended it over a hotel or even a hostel. I definitely prefer this route over a hotel. I'm eager to meet new people and I can't wait to be shown the best parts of the city by interesting people who love it.

Interests

Photography, literature, old buildings, random and comical things, laughing, rain, clouds, water, thrills, trains, traveling, new foods and drinks. I'm very interested in keeping in touch with the rest of the world and not letting my perspective remain merely in Northern California. I feel very lucky that I've been able to travel to Scandanavia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, England, Belgium and Switzerland. (I recommend, the next time you stop in Interlakken, to stay at Balmers Tent Village...you get to stay in a well heated and clean tent with random people from all over the world, surrounded by Swiss mountains, and when you awaken you can head straight to the bar about twenty steps away and play fooz ball...WARNING: The showers are FREEZING..as is to be expected lol) Oh, I am also very interested in finding out how to be truly happy.

• literature
• photography
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• teaching
• history
• study abroad
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm currently watching Breakfast at Tiffany's for the third time this week. For some reason, I have been hooked on this movie lately...Perhaps its the charismatic and magnetic lead lady and the appeal of her lifestyle and independence, or maybe its the oddball romance...All I know is that I'm watching it again. Also very interested in all things fantasy and sci-fi (this is my preferred genre for both movies and books). I grew up reading the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony and therefore have been imprinted with a permanent love for puns.
I used to absolutely love reading...I haven't been interested in it as much lately, though. However, since I'll be traveling soon I'll definitely bring a book along for train rides, waiting, and airplanes. etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One time in Rome, I was left almost immediately upon arrival at the Trevi Fountain by my group ( I was on a study abroad trip) and had absolutely no knowledge of the city, bus systems, or even what hotel I had just dropped my luggage off at. Actually I wrote a small story about it in a journal awhile back...let me go find it...
*crickets*
Ok I found it...Here it is
In June of 2008, amidst the hot Roman sun, my tour group knew something that I did not: our meeting place. Upon fully realizing that I had been left behind, I took one last snapshot of the Trevi fountain and headed in the direction from whence I came. Hopping on a completely random bus, I happily toured the city, thinking that, with luck, I would just happen to stumble across my hotel. Soon, I began getting worried, so asked the bus driver how to find bus 16. Lost in translation, I ended up on bus 23. Head resting on the window pane, the bus took a quick turn, whirling me upwards and almost out of my seat and right in front of me was the motherfuckin Vatican. I got off the bus, was given directions by the second bus driver, and plopped down on a Roman side street right next to the Vatican. Thirty five minutes later, the number 16 bus still hadn't arrived. So I walked up to two parked buses a few yards away.
Empty but for the driver, I asked again about intended destination. He barely spoke English, but eventually he got out of his bus, walked me to the other bus, spoke a few, quick words in Italian, and told me to get on the second empty bus where the driver started driving me to my hotel.
So anyway, that's just a little glimpse at one of the experiences that I truly enjoyed while in another country, and was very thank ful for. Also gained some good insight on how kind Italians are, even in the busiest and most famous city in human history.

Teach, Learn, Share

-Photography
-Literature
-Philosophies on life
-Ideas
-Stories
These are all discussion topics that I could just as easily be a student on as a teacher.