Instagram: @victoryousthegloryous
Facebook: Victor Yongkun Liao

READ THIS FIRST BEFORE SENDING A HOSTING REQUEST!
***If you are requesting to be hosted, please explain the intention of your trip, the plans for your stay, and some info about who you are and why we would be a good host/surfer match. DO NOT SEND ME A BASIC REQUEST JUST LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO SLEEP! COUCHSURFING IS NOT A FREE HOTEL! I want to try to know who I'm letting into my home before I accept their request. This is for safety and compatibility reasons. Understand that I prefer to be able to spend some time with my surfers. If you send a request for dates that are more than one month in advance, just know that I generally am not able to confirm hosting requests until it is within one month of your requested dates because I travel often and that's how far in advance I make my plans. Please read my profile and home description before sending a request. Thank you!***

In 2019 I visited 20 different cities to decide where to move to to restart my life. I ended up choosing Denver and drove from Charleston, SC, completing a 5,000 mile month-long road trip from SC to CA, and back over to CO. I was working at a solar company and also did private tennis lessons and some work as a background actor (extra) for 2 shows that were filming in Charleston: Mr. Mercedes [S3] (Peacock), and The Righteous Gemstones [S1] (HBO) and even got to be featured in a few scenes too!

I graduated from Clemson University with a degree in engineering and a fascination with renewable energy. I have moved around a bit growing up: born in China, lived in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Since college, I have found that travel gives me a sense of joyous fulfillment and I really love exploring new places and meeting people! I consider myself to be a student of life, using my experiences to grow and better understand the world. I like to be funny and love museums, high places, and food. I always surprise people with how much I can eat! I love music a lot, and enjoy going to concerts and singing, which I do a lot of in my car (haha), and have had the wonderful opportunity of performing in an acapella group in college! I'm looking forward to continuing to travel as much as possible and to meet all the wonderful people out there in the world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I really like meeting people and getting to know their life story. I believe everyone has something interesting and unique to share, and you never know who you may become great friends with! Also, since I got into this when I was in college, it was a time that I couldn't really afford to stay in hotels while traveling (especially since there's not really any hostels in the US), plus it's more personally engaging when I am welcomed into someone's home and I feel more like a resident of where I'm visiting. I first realized that when I stayed in a family's home in Florence, Italy. They cooked breakfast and we had a great conversation and it was just so much more memorable of a stay! It really reflected on me as Florence is probably my most favorite European city at this point. The connection you have to a place is very dependent on the people you meet, and hosts can have a huge impact on that. That also works in reverse as I love hosting people whenever I can and sharing my experiences and my home with guests and giving them the best experience I can to where a new location can also feel like home to them.

Couch Crashes attended/planned:
1. Feb 2018: Cozy Cabin Crash, Smoky Mountains
2. Aug 2018: Greenville Lake Crash, SC
3. Aug/Sep 2018: Atlanta Peach Crash
4. Oct 2018: DC Crash
5. Nov 2018: Musical Mountain Crash, NC
6. Dec 2018: Orlando Crash
7. Feb 2019: Cozy Cabin Crash, Smoky Mountains
8. April 2019: Austin Crash
9. May 2019: Charleston Beach Crash
10. June/July 2019: Chicago Crash
11. Aug 2019: Seattle Crash
12. Aug 2019: Portland Rose City Crash
13. Aug 2019: Twin Cities Crash, MN
14. Sep 2019: Madison Crash
15. Sep 2019: Boulder Crash
16. Oct 2019: Dallas Crash
17. Dec 2019: NYC Holiday Crash
18. Jan 2020: MSP Cryocrash
19. May 2022: Omaha Crash
20. June 2022: Denver Crash (I'm an organizer!)
21. Sep 2022: Memphis Crash
22. Nov 2022: DC Refresh Crash
23. Mar 2023: New Orleans Crash
24. July 2023: Seattle Crash
25. Aug 2023: San Francisco Crash
26. Oct 2023: Chicago Crash
27. Mar 2024: Rome Invasion
28. Mar 2024: Marseille Crash
29. April 2024: Houston Crash
30. May 2024: DC Embassy Crash
31. July 2024: Amalfi Camp
32. July 2024: Leipzig Crash
33. Sep 2024: Prague CzechCrash
34. Sep 2024: Madrid Crash
35. Sep 2024: LA Crash
36. Oct 2024: SF Crash
37. Oct 2024: Montreal Crash
38. Oct 2024: NYC Halloween Crash

Interests

Travel (of course), renewable energy, music, games, outdoorsy stuff (hiking and skiing), life, biking/cycling, kayaking/canoeing, cars, technology, tennis, and more.

• singing
• concerts
• breakfast
• technology
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• music
• cycling
• canoeing
• kayaking
• camping
• mountains
• food

Music, Movies, and Books

A lot.
Uuum.
I like folk, classic rock, house, electronic, indie, and even pop.
I've been listening to a bunch of different playlists on Spotify. I pretty much binge listen to tons of songs especially when I'm driving. My last Spotify annual review said I listened to 56,000 minutes of music, which was more than 94% of the US.

For movies, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is my spirit movie 😁 (in 2018 I got to see the Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland that is portrayed in the movie when they are supposedly trekking through the Himalayas!) . I also really enjoy Disney/Pixar movies. The Lego Movie cracked me up so many times! I'm also into action and thriller type movies as well. Jumanji and The Sandlot are some of my favorites from childhood. Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino are some of my favorite directors too.

And books, there's been a few. All Quiet on the Western Front is one that I enjoyed where many of my peers did not. The White Tiger gives you a great perspective on the fictional life of a chauffeur in India, very dramatic. Of course Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite classics. Ooh and undoubtedly, Cyrano de Bergerac is my life character -- a witty and skillful man of the highest integrity who has a large nose, which doesn't help with his insecurity about love, yup 😅. (I went to my first musical in NYC in Dec 2019 and ended up getting seated front and center to see Peter Dinklage, aka Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, perform as Cyrano in "Cyrano"!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hmm, maybe that I started learning to ski at the age of 28 and am now able to ski black level slopes! I typically get a global ski pass every year now. I've skied at over 20 mountains in the US, Canada, and Europe! The feeling of zooming down a mountain is incredible, almost like flying!

I've done many long distance road trips, but I finally got to do a true coast to coast trip in Nov 2019 with a friend, as part of my relocation to Denver. I can also say that I've been to all 50 states, with Alaska being my final one in 2021 (and yes I saw the Northern Lights)!

Something else I'd have to say is an amazing thing I've done has been the SolarStation project, an outdoor table with solar powered outlets to charge your devices. My team members and I built and finally put it out on Clemson's campus in May 2015. We designed and built it as a way for students and anyone else to have up close and personal interaction with solar power and to see for themselves how great it is and how useful it is to be able to power your personal items, like laptops and phones, and not emit any harmful emissions into the atmosphere. There were many delays and issues resisting us but we overcame them! And now we've just installed our 2nd versions on campus in September 2018 (which I will be glad to tell you all about and show you pictures of). It was also a big challenge, especially since we were trying to go for an edgier design and to have them placed in a more visible, central location on campus, but after 3 arduous years they are finally out!

I got the chance to hike to the top of Mt. Elbert in Aug 2016! It was quite a challenge with the steep slope and high altitude (14,433 ft), but with a few extra breaks near the top I made it!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach about what I've learned about renewable energy, I'm up to learn about anything, and I can share my life experiences and about my travels as well. I've done a decent amount of mountain and road biking so that's something I can also give insight on. I've also coached tennis before so I can show you how to get that killer shot you've always wanted haha.

I lived in Colorado for a summer in 2016 building trails via the AmeriCorps program and explored all around the state and the greater Rocky Mountain region so I can share a lot of info on my time there! And of course the notorious Casa Bonita 😆 (proudly featured in a South Park episode) All of my experiences there have convinced me to finally move to the state as of November 2019.

I can also show how to make some Southern or Cajun cuisine like Lowcountry Boil or Jambalaya.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good conversation and company, being a real friend. I'm cool with helping out around the house. I am very respectful of your home and schedule. I'm no stranger to being a guest in other people's homes. I also consider myself to be very clean. I like to send postcards of my travels to my past hosts to keep in touch and to remind them of how they have helped me to keep doing the thing that I love.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States