Well, a little background...
We both grew up in the Midwest, James in Illinois and Kristen in Wisconsin. We met in Arizona roughly 7 years ago and have been married for over 5.

Our friends might describe us as not so 'normal', a little 'out there' and going against the grain of the status quo, and we'd probably agree with them!

Its kind of hard to describe ourselves with just words on a page, but in a nutshell, we're a laid back couple who enjoy spending time with family and friends, trying things we've never done, going places we've never been and sampling food we've never tasted while meeting new people along the way!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It all started about 12 years ago with James and an idea to walk to Seattle from McKinney, TX.....but we'll skip the details and get right to it.
Hold up, a few of the details include that he only walked 10 days with a stick that was shortened from 73" to 61". He decided to not complete the walk by the time he was leaving Albuquerque. He had been accepting rides, but wasn't 'hitching'. He ended up in the desert and has always had the desire to complete the walk, but year after year has been hindered. 6 years ago Kristen entered the picture at a mutual friend's birthday lunch and her initial impression was that James was homeless. He wasn't. Now they have been talking about completing this adventure since, but the support for it hadn't been there. This year lots has changed and for whatever reasons there are a lot of supporters, but they know even more help and support will be needed.

We love meeting new people and hearing stories of how they arrived at where they are and the twists and turns that life has led them through. So, we're looking for friendly places to stay as we attempt to complete the trek from Gilbert, AZ up the West Coast to Seattle. We hope to have good memories and fun stories to share for our lifetime.

If you would like to follow us or find out more about our journey please feel free to check out our Facebook page at:
facebook.com/cadenceofthekricks
Or our blog:
www.cadenceofthekricks.com

The reason we are on Couchsurfing is because we heard about it from someone somewhere, although we can not recall who or where now and it sounded neat. We didn't really know how to get into it at the time and were somewhat skeptical and it sorta dropped out of our minds. Recently it came back up and again piqued our interest and we found a meet up group in cental Phoenix so we went. We had a BLAST! We met people from all over the world. Some hosts, some surfers, some people just hanging out. Everyone there had cool stories to share and it felt like we were more 'normal' than we once thought.

Our hope is that you hosts out there might want to assist us along our way and help us create a good, solid, long-lasting, interesting, unique, fascinating impression of a caring, generous, hospitable culture that is inside and outside of boundaries. A community that is bound to be free!

And when the trek is complete, we ourselves having surfed hope to know better how to host from what we learn along the way.

Interests

James enjoys Spoken Word, writing, sports and solving electrical enigmas, traveling, walking/hiking.

Kristen enjoys wieght lifting, painting, drawing, DIY-ing, crocheting, playing piano and just about anything that involves creating things with her own two hands, including her dreadlocks (lots of friends' hands involved in that too).

We also enjoy a comedy, a good drink and place to relax with a good book. Spending time out in nature and exploring this amazing world is also high on our list.

Seinfeld and The Walking Dead are our favorite shows, though we realize they are completely opposite of each other.

Music, Movies, and Books

We pretty much like any kind of music, as long as its not screaming at us.
A few selections from our Pandora stations are:
Matisyahu
Blind Boys of Alabama
David Crowder
Glitchmob
Jazz Masters
Lindsey Sterling
Cross Movement
Slightly Stoopid
Lauren Daigle
Classical Piano

Books about adventure, like Bear Grylls climbing Everest or Cheryl Strayed hiking the PCT. We enjoy books that teach creativity or inspire thought. A good mystery or a book on travel with humor like Bill Bryson's.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We thought skydiving was pretty amazing, with parasailing in the Bahamas right behind it. Sometimes it is simply amazing enjoying Arizona's sunsets!

Teach, Learn, Share

Not exactly sure what this category is for, but James can certainly teach you about electrical, help you write a poem, lend a great listening ear and tells a great story.

Kristen can teach you how to crochet, help with a creative/crafting project, lend a hand decorating a cake, cook you various yummy things or even help you start your own set of dreadlocks.

We're both more than willing to teach what we know, learn what you know and help out wherever we might be needed.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We hope we can share with you a helping hand (especially if it regards electricity, cleaning up, painting, building shelves ... etc), a listening ear, prayer, or just good conversations. Maybe swap some good stories, have some good laughs and learn more about who you are and what your story is.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, England, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States