CURRENT MISSION

Biking around the most bike-friendly city in the USA (according to some lists) and teaching Montessori middle schoolers about sustainability, grammar, literature, Latin root words, and how to be leaders.

ABOUT ME

I'm tall, lanky (some would say gangly), and outgoing, although I love my quiet time, too. I guess that's not ALL about me, so um, how about we get a beer or toss the frisbee and figure out the rest?

PHILOSOPHY

Live for what you love.

Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it. And so, I walk...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surf wherever I go so I can meet people and really enrich my travels. A personal experience is the best way to travel by far. I also host as many people as I can so I can show them how neat my city is. Sharing the world you live in is one of the best ways to connect with people.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first Couchsurfing experience, I arrived at the house at 9 PM and the host told me he had to wake up at 4 for work. So he showed me the bathroom, the couch, gave me the keys, and went to bed. I didn't know what to do, so I just went to sleep, and then I woke up in the morning with the keys to a house in Barcelona! Crazy! It's that kind of trust that really makes CS wonderful, and inspires me to reciprocate that trust.

I then spent 6 days with a host in Greece, staying at his apartment for 3 days and then going to a CS "meeting" on the beach in Pelion and camping out for 2 days. Incredible experience with some great people, great food, and a little bit of sunburn mixed in.

Since then, I've Couchsurfed in: Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Mexico, Belgium, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Morocco, Italy, Slovakia, Hungary, Bosnia, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Zanzibar, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nepal, India, and Sweden.

Interests

Hiking, baseball, ultimate frisbee, reading, Brazilian and Irish drumming, Improv Comedy, board games, backgammon, cards (but not the cigars and poker type), dancing (Salsa and also just random boogie-ing), cycling, reading, cooking, coaching basketball, reading, guitar, baking (especially bread), and reading.

• dogs
• literature
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• beer
• baking
• board games
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• poker
• guitar
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• baseball
• basketball
• track and field
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

The Shawshank Redemption, Almost Famous, Catch Me if You Can, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, What Dreams May Come, Minority Report, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Amelie, Slumdog Millionaire, Fight Club, Office Space

"Haroun and the Sea of Stories" by Salman Rushdie
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"Seabiscuit" (the book, not the movie) by Laura Hillenbrand
"Collapse" and "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond
"Song of the Dodo" by David Quammen
"Nothing But the Truth" by Avi
"Starbucked" by Taylor Clark
"The Wal-Mart Effect" by Charles Fishman
"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut
"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan

The Waifs, The Cat Empire, The Molehill Orkestrah, Cake, Jack Johnson, The Devil Makes Three, Damn Tall Buildings, Dave Matthews Band, Buena Vista Social Club (the perfect album, in my opinion), Rusted Root, Counting Crows, The Be Good Tanyas, Matisyahu, Gillian Welch, Manu Chao
ANYTHING by Putumayo (especially "Congo to Cuba," "Republica Dominicana," and "Acoustic Brazil")
Extra Action Marching Band (saw them in a concert in Zurich one night - imagine a full-on marching band in a tiny bar!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hiked a New Zealand grassland into a rainforest straight onto a glacier while looking at a mountain next to a fjord falling into the ocean.

Amazing Thing 1A: Eaten, in succession and in the course of half an hour, on the streets of Beijing: starfish, sea snake, sheep testicle, sheep kidney, dog, and scorpion. And washed it all down with some shark.

Thing 1B: I've seen a lot on my travels, but here are some things that have literally taken my breath away: Volcan Pacaya in Guatemala, Semuc Champey in Guatemala, The Routeburn Track in New Zealand, Michelangelo's David, The Fountain of Trevi, Cinque Terre, Highway One in California, Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, Havasupai Falls in Arizona, the Cenotes on the Yucatan, The Alhambra in Granada, the sunset at Oia on Santorini, the sunrise over Mount Everest at 18,500 feet, Maletsunyane Falls in Lesotho, and Matemo Island in Mozambique.

Teach, Learn, Share

The best pizza and bagels are from New York City and the area immediately surrounding it (within 30 miles). And it's not even close.

I can teach you how to easily bake the most delicious bread, with a crispy crust and a doughy inside. I can promise that once you know how to do this, you'll never buy bread again.

I can also teach you how to make homemade tomato sauce, from scratch.

When you go to Australia, watch out for Drop Bears.

I would like to learn many things, but specifically how to make things out of wood, how to finger pick the guitar, how to make more delicious kinds of food, how to make beer, and how to make cheese. If you could teach me parts of any of these, I'd be thankful.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, Rwanda, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Spain, United States

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