CURRENT MISSION

Travel more.

ABOUT ME

We are in our early 60s and have a wide range of interests, but mostly it centers on our four-year-old granddaughter, who lives in Florida. Friendly, caring, liberal politics. Neither of us drink or smoke.

PHILOSOPHY

Live and let live. Boredom is failure.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

NOTE: We're taking a break until 2016, and won't be accepting guest requests until then.

I decline all open-ended "need to crash while I look for a job and hang out" requests, so please note.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

When I was young and single I slept all kinds of places, inside and outside! When I was in grad school we took $3,000 we got from hail damage insurance and all three of us (our son was 10) went to Europe for two weeks instead of fixing the cars. We stayed in hotels where nobody spoke English and it is still today one of the best memories we have.

Interests

We have a wide range of interests. Exercise, reading, theatre, music, movies. We also do a bit of volunteer work.

• festivals
• cooking
• exercise
• drinking
• boating
• politics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• volunteer work
• cars
• music
• hiking
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I love anything Shakespeare, whether his works or about him; novels, non-fiction, good, adult-themed movies (though we like Hollywood blockbusters also), crime novels (Philip Kerr, Alan Furst, Charles Willeford). Music: almost everything, from blues to rock to folk to country to jazz to classical to opera (well, some parts of some operas). I'm not much on headbanger music anymore.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Waterfalls. Whether it's an unexpected sighting of a waterfall whilst hiking through the jungle, going under Niagara Falls on a commercial tourist boat, or spending a lazy summer day at Hamilton Pool, there's something elemental about them that strikes the chords of the racial unconscious and triggers a near-spiritual experience.

I also remember several days spent indiscriminately play-going in the London theatre district that was akin to a religious experience.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm quite handy, I can wire almost anything, build a house, write a sonnet, an obituary, or a story. And I can cook.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A separate bedroom with a queen-sized bed. We can't accept everyone who asks, because we're often out of town attending festivals, conferences, and visiting our granddaughter, but we try to answer every request and if possible suggest alternate places to stay.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States