CURRENT MISSION

Explore Central & South America, Grow my companies, and spend quality time with my son, Charlie!

ABOUT ME

I left Minnesota after High School to spend 7+ years in Los Angeles, learned to work hard and play harder, and forged some of my strongest friendships. From there I moved to Hong Kong and, eventually, Nanjing, exploring China and Southeast Asia for 4+ years, and in the process fell in love with the people, food and culture of this dense, diverse section of the world. I also became fascinated with the Chinese language, so studied Mandarin and love to practice using it! I eventually came full circle, back to Minnesota. And I'm home :-)

PHILOSOPHY

The fortune to see new places should be granted to all. Consider how the world would change if everyone over 18 had spent time in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia?

I hope to write a book of which I'm proud, make as many people smile as possible, and help whoever I can, because that's the responsibility - and opportunity - of anyone with good luck.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm fortunate to have hosted and been hosted by many surfers. I love meeting new people - particularly fellow travelers - so I'm excited to develop new friendships along the way!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm excited to host more travelers and surf whenever possible. It's a big world out there, but I'm trying to make it a little bit smaller, one trip at a time.

Interests

I'm very interested in languages, thanks to early exposure to Spanish and more recent exposure to Chinese. From language comes culture, and exploring this remarkable planet, and the many different ways people call it home, could be considered my ultimate interest. I'm also a huge fan of meeting interesting people, sharing conversations with them, and learning about what makes them tick.

Those basic interests aside, I have had an on-again off-again affair with the sciences since high school, hope to start writing regularly again soon, love cooking food from around the world, relish hiking and outdoors activities, and am involved in residential and commercial real estate back home in the US.

• culture
• writing
• books
• dining
• cooking
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES: Hitchcock, Kubrick, Kurosawa and the Coen brothers preside over my film universe, but I'm also known to crack up at second rate, slapstick comedies and well up during romantic comedies.

MUSIC: I joke that I only listen to good music, but when I say that, I'm being serious. Lately, I've been infused with The Bad Plus, Flaming Lips, Wilco, the Black Crowes & The Jayhawks, but I'm a huge fan of the Roots & Jay-Z, some Chinese Classical Music I found online, Johnny Cash, Medeski Martin & Wood, and the list goes on. Really: good music.

BOOKS: I've been limited to CFA textbooks, Chinese textbooks, and linguistic books lately. With that said, F Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Hesse, and two former professors of mine, Percival Everett & T.C. Boyle, rate very high on my list. Hopefully, I'll start reading real books (fiction) again soon :-)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Gibbon Experience in Laos was, hands down, the coolest experience of my life. Using zipcords to get to my treehouse - high above the Bokeo Forest Reserve - or from one place to the next was incredible.

Teach, Learn, Share

Whenever possible, travel overland.

Travel essentials: good plastic bags, useful for absolutely everything; a pair of old stockings, suitable as a lint brush substitute, a wet shoe hanger, etc; good pens; and a dummy wallet.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm always happy to grab some good groceries and cook for a group!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United Kingdom, United States

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