Well, hi there. This is a joint profile for me (Tianyu) and my travel partner Abhi. We will be travelling to various places in the coming year (recently went to Mexico), and looking to meet with others.

I live in Chicago. Well, not really, but in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago to the north. After living here for several years, I am convinced it is the best, most well-designed city in the USA to live in. (Well, if you don't mind cold winters.) Abhi lives in Seattle, and moved there from Chicago. He loves the mountains and nature of the Pacific Northwest, plus the wide variety of good and healthy food, but he sometimes wants to move back to a big city like Chicago.

I grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, spent a year in Laos, and have currently settled in the US. It would be difficult to say where I have most loved living, as there are pros and cons of each. But because of the opportunities I have now and people i've met, I am happy staying here.

By day, I work as a software developer in the AI field. AI has been a big scary buzzword these last few years; but my career interest has been on how AI can be leveraged to optimize our infrastructure to be more efficient and reduce carbon emissions. Abhi also works as a programmer, for sales and revenue enablement, and wants to move into AI as well.

I guess it's becoming a cliche to say it, but I love travel for the people I meet. I always love to hear people's stories and different ways of lives, presuming they are open to talking to visitors in their country!

One thing I'll bring up now is that I am an anarchist, or at least interested and curious in anarchist philosophy. I believe we should all come together as a people with shared humanity, and not view others as inherently inferior based on arbitrary things like nationalistic borders. Looking throughout the long span of human history, and many social experiments throughout the world, maybe there are other paths to live.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Abhi has been hosting people since 2016, and met many amazing people during the course of his travels. I was initially a little reluctant to get into couchsurfing, and thought it might be sketchy, but everyone I know has had great and fulfilling experiences, so might as well give it a try!

Interests

• dining
• cooking
• running
• anime
• traveling
• hiking
• swimming
• badminton

Music, Movies, and Books

some stuff me or Abhi or both like

MOVIES
- Grave of the Fireflies
- Lagaan
- Godzilla Minus One
- Palm Springs
- Iron Man
- Parasite
- Lord of the Rings
- Run Lola Run
- Mulan

TV SHOWS
- X-Men 97
- The Office
- Better Call Saul
- Cowboy Bebop

BOOKS
- Hainish Cycle books - Ursula Le Guin
- The Dawn Of Everything - by David Graeber
- Manufacturing Consent - by Noam Chomsky
- Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A few months ago, we visited a Zapatista outreach center in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatistas are a group composed primarily of rural indigenous that formed communal autonomous zones in Mexico in the 90s, with the goal of equality of self-determination. Of course, as a travel, we hoped to be mindful and not impose or be unwelcome. But they let us view the center, including murals, auditorium, and lodging.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm interested in language exchange. I grew up in a multicultural neighborhood, where I learned to speak in different languages to speak comfortably with many people. Since then, I try to pick up just a little bit of the language of places I travel to.

Also, always up for sharing cooking techniques!

What I Can Share with Hosts

We can provide company, help out around the house when needed (like cooking), clean up after ourselves, and bring gifts from our hometowns of Seattle and Chicago.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Indonesia, Laos, Mexico, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Laos, Malaysia, United States