I have been living in Newport News since 2016 and I am a professor at Christopher Newport University.

"If there is nothing new on the earth, still the traveler always has a resource in the skies. They are constantly turning a new page to view. The wind sets the types on this blue ground, and the inquiring may always read a new truth there." -Henry David Thoreau

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I wish to live deliberately.

Couchsurfing is a great community of like-minded travelers. Hosting and surfing have shaped the way I travel and see the world. I began couchsurfing to travel for my dissertation research, without which my dissertation would not be possible. I have met a number of friends through surfing and hosting, and in a few cases I have surfed/hosted more than once with the same person.

When hosting, I try to show guests around if I am able. When surfing, I try to be as respectful and considerate as possible. I can often host last minute couch requests.

Interests

I like to read, visit museums and historical sites, and cook. I try to go to the gym regularly to lift weights.

I am a stamp and coin collector. I have been collecting stamps for more than fifteen years, and coins for more than twenty years.

I bought a bicycle in 2015, and I have been trying to learn more about cycling and basic bicycle maintenance. Lately, I have been going on longer rides on the Capital Trail, and have even completed a few hundred mile bike rides.

• arts
• cooking
• traveling
• stamps
• cycling
• economics
• history
• philately
• historic sites
• weightlifting
• numismatics

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: There Will Be Blood, Trading Places, Leon the Professional, Casino, Barry Lyndon, Snatch, Good Will Hunting, Catch Me If You Can, Seven Samurai, The Wrestler, The Informant!, American Psycho, Goodbye Lenin, The Departed, True Legend, Enter the 36 Chambers, True Grit, Twelve Years a Slave, Lincoln

Music: Lately I have been listening to a lot of classical music. Some of my old favorites include Metallica, Wu-Tang Clan, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, and Red Hot Chili Peppers

Literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Bulgakov, Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Books: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith), On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (David Ricardo), On Liberty (John Stuart Mill), Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville), The Visible Hand (Alfred Chandler), The Innovator's Dilemma (Clayton Christensen), A Nation of Counterfeiters (Stephen Mihm), The Logic of Collective Action (Mancur Olson), and many more ...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once ate 28 pancakes in a pancake eating contest.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a lot about history, economics, antiques, and collectibles. I can also teach you how to solve a Rubik's cube.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, England, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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