We are a family of three: Michael and Brenda, and our almost-2-year-old daughter (Lily). We're back in school as non-traditional students (ages 43 and 36), after decades of successful previous careers (Michael in the military and Brenda in the medical field) and now with goals to reach graduation while simultaneously taming the terrible twos and hoping that we can travel the world with this amazing child of ours! Between the two of us, we have been to every European country, been in every state in the United States, and even lived in the majority of the states. We in the process repeating our travels now, this time with the privilege of introducing this amazing world to daughter. We're trying to visit every national park, and we also want to visit the 7 wonders of the world.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are not currently able to host overnight (we're in a tiny, on-campus, apartment), but we're happy to provide transportation to/from the nearby airport (in Pullman, Washington).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've enjoyed participating in Couchsurfing as a host, chef, travel agent, travel partner, and creator of memories and adventures with new friends as we cross paths around the globe. Hosting new friends and exploring new places in our single days was a much different experience, but now we enjoy encouraging young families to continue traveling, even while lugging a baby-backpack and a diaper bag over the shoulders!

To share a few early couchsurfing experiences:
I learned a great deal about the treasured people residing throughout the inside passage of Alaska while ferry hoping through the islands and meeting fabulous folks as I went!
I got to spend the day with one of the the coolest girls in Dresden, Germany, who escorted me on a tour of the city by bicycle!
I met some great friends in an Anchorage, Alaska family who shared mutual travels and experiences.
I had a very scary--but I'll call it life changing, instead of life threatening--"Blue Crush" adventure in North Shore waves with an excellent local guy in Kauai, Hawaii!

兴趣

Music, traveling, learning, exploring, CC skiing, biking, playing scrabble, gardening, biking, volunteering, stand-up paddling, kayaking, camping, exercising, ballroom dancing, violin playing, ping-pong, triathlons...

• writing
• dancing
• ballroom dancing
• exercise
• yoga
• gardening
• traveling
• painting
• music
• violin
• cycling
• kayaking
• camping
• skiing
• volunteering

音乐、电影和书籍

I don't watch many movies and don't really like many Hollywood movies, frankly. I much prefer documentaries--there is so much amazing material out there to learn! I recently watched a great documentary called "Turtle: The Incredible Journey" about the tumultuous destiny of the leatherback turtle; these creatures are amazing!

I like all sorts of music, from country, to reggae, and currently playing as I write this: Bruce Springsteen, Built to Spill, Gravity & Henry...

I read Eat, Pray, Love (of course). It was fun way to vicariously explore places that I haven't been in before! I admire that she maintained her confidence and her creative use of coping skills. It kind of felt like the written version of "Under the Tuscan Sun," which was a decent movie.

I've read a few of Gary Haugen's books about expeditions with the International Justice Mission, a mission held dear to my heart that I'm very passionate about. "Just Courage" was an inspirational read about tackling the violent injustice going on in the world today.

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

...Just ONE...?!
I came out of a whirlwinded road trip through Europe, covering 8 countries in one week--Irreplaceable!
I learned about pure joy and authentic appreciation for things that really matter while working as an activity director at a summer camp for kids with terminal illnesses.
I experienced breathtaking awe in Alaska when crawling out of a snow covered tent to be enveloped in dancing northern lights, illuminating the surrounding mountain silhouettes.
I discovered the feeling that can be felt outside of the rat-race through ukulele lessons with a 94 year old Hawaiian man, writing music and strumming in the shade.
I speak very little spanish, but I once booked a ticket to Mexico all by myself with NO other plans in place; I learned to be very brave, met some amazing people, and experienced the reality that people are actually really good (and became very satisfied with my independent traveling skills)!

教，学，和分享

--I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live. -Martin Luther King, Jr
--"If you hear a voice within you saying 'you are not a painter,' then by all means PAINT, and that voice will be silenced."
--"Treat people as though they are who they could be, and you help them become who they can be."
--Most people struggle with life balance simply because they haven't paid the price to decide what is really important to them. -Stephen Covey
--Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him

我游览过的国家

Austria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden

我居住过的国家

United States