CURRENT MISSION

finding what it is to be in one place.

ABOUT ME

I write and write and hop from one town to the next looking for things that make me smile. I've done this for much of my life. I call Alaska home because when I'm there, something tells me that I belong. Usually I'd rather know that and be somewhere else, exploring the back alleys and beaches and mountains in other people's hometowns, hitching rides and taking music and words with me everywhere.

PHILOSOPHY

As people, particularly as men, we need each other to be our most authentic selves as encouragement - or permission - to be our most authentic self, having shed expectation and worry about what others may think.
Full assumption and comfort with who we are in our mind, body, and spirit, is freedom.
Unattachment to the next, or other.
Be with what is now, and create your own reality.
Thoughts are things. Do not squander them.
Do not focus a single iota of your energy on that which you do not want; focus everything only on what you want.
You are Creator; if you've ever wondered if God exists, look into a mirror.
Breathe.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I like to connect with those who seek to understand the world better. Intercultural communication, be it across borders or breakfast nooks, benefits everyone. Couchsurfing as a tool has revolutionized travel. As a community, it is revolutionizing how people learn from each other. I feel the truth in that, and enjoy being a part of it.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had the greatest times couchsurfing a mile from my house and a world away. My travel is usually off-the-cuff, so sometimes it's difficult to plan ahead and work with people's schedules so as to not feel like I'm a burden. I'm constantly refining my art of travel.

My first few times hosting, all within a few weeks of one another, felt like I was giving something back. I wasn't the tired backpacker for once, trying to seem overly grateful and super-nice. I realized it wasn't necessary. Couchsurfing is about people being real with one another. That's how we connect.

Interests

music, travel, festivals, the outdoors, playing guitar, hitchhiking, backpacking, rock climbing, writing, packrafting, snowboarding, audio, quality beers, quality people, books, writing, poetry, everything I don't know.

• arts
• writing
• books
• poetry
• festivals
• breakfast
• beer
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• backpacking
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• hitchhiking
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

this list has the potential to be endless.

What the Bleep Do We Know/Down the Rabbit Hole, Waking Lives, Finding Forrester, die Edukators, Sideways, Boondock Saints, Lord of the Rings, Crash, Get Shorty, The Lives of Others, The Libertine, 10 items or less, Into the Wild, Up in the Air, Juno, Inception, Citizen Kane, City of God, Blow, Slam...

from jazz to death metal, electronic, down-tempo and ambient to classical, post-rock and hip-hop, I love music whose main ingredient is passion.

books? books! t.c. boyle! hunter thompson and jack kerouac of course. Arundhati Roy. Timothy Egan, Joan Didion, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. Christian Bok, Mark Haddon's poetry, Mark Twain. Fitzgerald and human imagination. Kafka is my hero (and has his own café in Brussels!). Tolkien because I'm a sucker for deep fantasy, travel and adventure books without the arrogant top-of-the-world attitude (but still might take place on top of the world), and a million other books that are not on my shelves yet.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My favorite moments are the ones when I left the camera in my pocket, and let the world happen around me.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, Panama, United States

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