Californian-born, Texas-bred, New York-wed, and now born-again Californian. I've spent most of my lifetime trotting around, but at the end of the day I prize growing roots in a community, simple pleasures, and spending quality time with friends and family above all else. A Luddite in a technologist's sheepskin; a hippie masquerading as a corporate tool.

When I'm not traveling, I shape my values, hobbies, and personal goals to adapt to the city I live in. In New York, I was deeply involved with the Tango community because the dance is similar to jazz in that it was a language that originated out of necessity in order for working-class immigrants from different parts of the world to socialize with one another. To me, the dance was a window into the diversity that makes New York culture so special. Art and culture was how I focused life there and is now something I value and look for in others.

Now that I live in LA where the weather is perfect and space and natural beauty is plentiful, my life is centered around outdoor recreation. If you get a chance to visit me here, you'll be spoiled for options: are you feeling mountains or desert? Forest or beach? Sailing or cycling? Hiking, or climbing? The main communities I participate in here is the Pacific Mariners Yacht Club where I'm a volunteer journeyman sailor, and the Bicycle Tree which is a bicycle repair cooperative where I used to restore vintage bicycles full-time and organize bikecamping trips. I always like to joke that the best thing to do in LA is to get out of LA, heh!

At the end of the day, the only thing you really need to know about me is that I take an active curiosity in the place I'm in and the people I'm surrounded by and try to connect with it/them on a meaningful level. If you're on Couchsurfing, you're likely the same, and we'll probably get along just fine :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The faces make the places.

Interests

Cooking, motocamping, sailing, tennis, biking, disc golf, art/design, cinema, off-roading, argentine tango, DIY projects, old-timey mixology

• arts
• theater
• architecture
• design
• photography
• diy
• tango
• cocktails
• crafts
• motorcycles
• technology
• traveling
• cycling
• backpacking
• tennis
• economics
• cinema
• videography
• sculpture

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES:
My favorite movie is probably Amarcord by Federico Fellini, but otherwise I'm game for anything that Metacritic, IMDB, the BFI, AFI, FBI, or the myriad of internet all-time lists will tell me to watch. Currently recovering from a David Lynch obsession. Formerly a Paul Thomas Anderson obsessive.

MUSIC:
Too much to list, but growing up my favs were Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Beach Boys, Bill Evans, Velvet Underground, Miles Davis, George Gershwin, Django Reinhardt

BOOKS:
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged . One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycling down Central America on a little Brompton folding bike

Drove across the Silk Road on an itsy bitsy teenie weenie Yamaha 125cc motorcycle.

Hitchhiked down the USA

Personally taught 3 indigenous Panamanian families how to do accounting/finance and run a business.

Tricked 6 car salesmen into letting me test drive their cars so I could learn how to drive manual shift at the last minute before a 2000 km road trip through South Africa.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would LOOOOOOVE to share trust, but I'm gonna have to ask you to verify that you've read my profile in order to do that. There are instructions in the "My Home" section, just follow that and you'll get a response from me. I care more about quality requests/guests than my response rate :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm a pretty avid cook and specialize in Vietnamese comfort food. I also know how to make decent cocktails. My friends always eat well around me ;)

I can teach you how to execute the 2-second shirt fold technique. When done consistently, it will save you 2 months over a lifetime. That's right, I'll give you two months of your lifetime back

I can, and only after much goading, teach you how to dance the argentine Tango like an amateur, because that's the only way I know how to dance it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States