CURRENT MISSION

travel is a passion of mine, and i am so happy to be able to share this passion with others. whether it means meeting other enthusiasts in my own travels or hosting those who need a place to stay, i am very excited about the couchsurfing experience!

ABOUT ME

i am a social guy who enjoys meeting new people and having new experiences, but i also like to spend time on my own a lot, writing or reading or wandering around. i have a terrible sense of direction, so getting lost is a given, but this is almost always a great way to see a new place and find out something new.

PHILOSOPHY

i look at life as an adventure, and ever since i was a child i have treated it as that. as with any adventure, you have to respect the road you're on as much as you enjoy it. it is a crowded road at many times, after all, and everyone has the right to enjoy their adventure as much as the next person. for this reason i think it's very important to live in respect of other people, helping them when possible, giving them their space when not. so far, i have met far more kindness than ill-will, and i hope that i have returned the same.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

i am brand new to CS, so aside from starting the verification process and filling out this info, i have not participated at all. i look forward to having more to say soon.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

again, no experience as of yet, but anxious to get some.

Interests

i love writing and do this a lot. it has always been an interest of mine but has recently become another passion. i am also very fond of reading and watching movies, i think mostly because i enjoy traveling in them in much the same way i enjoy physically traveling in the world. i love to hike and walk and can stay on my feet for hours exploring a city, a forest or a rolling landscape. i also have a strong desire to learn, especially foreign languages and about other cultures. this is exciting because all of my interests seem to fall in quite nicely with travel!

• writing
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• teaching
• languages
• study abroad

Music, Movies, and Books

i like the kind of book that can make you laugh but also make you think. Dave Eggers and John Irving come to mind immediately as authors who have this ability, along with Stephen King, although i've only read his Dark Tower series (which was one of the greatest reading experiences i've had in a long time). stories of adventure, travel, intrigue etc are also very interesting to me. Tolkien is a must to include, along with Alan Furst and James Clavell, both historical fiction, although very different. and then of course there's just the good novel about life and people, which Barbara Kingsolver does so well. other authors i've enjoyed are Suzanne Collins, Stieg Larsson, Sir Arthun Conan Doyle, Carolyn Parkhurst and Mark Haddon.
music is tough to get started on. i like basically all kinds, although i'm less partial to hip hop and country than i am to rock n roll. bands like Muse and The Killers are definitely at the top of my list for newer music.
movies are just as hard as music, but i love comedies and cheesy action movies (Machete most recently being a great example of both). some of my favorite actors are Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Gary Oldman, Jason Bateman, Michael Caine, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, James Franco, Paul Rudd...you get the idea.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

when i was in college i went on Semester At Sea, which is a study abroad program that takes around 600 students a semester and puts them on a big ocean liner and sails around the world. this was an amazing experience in itself, but our last stop was Cuba (rather exciting for an american), and we ended up getting to go to parliament and see Fidel Castro. he got up and announced that he wanted us to ask the questions, and for 5 hours he answered everything we asked. granted, his answers were often 45 minutes long, and he is a savvy and charismatic dictator, but his responses were surprisingly candid and honest about the mistakes that he made and the hopes that he still had for his country.

Teach, Learn, Share

i've traveled fairly extensively and am always excited to tell stories about my experiences, give words of warning about mistakes i've made or things i've encountered and also listen to other people's stories as well.
i certainly enjoy discussing things like languages and linguistics. i'm a German teacher as part of my studies and have also tutored people in Russian and Yiddish, so it's always fun to talk about languages or give people help if they need it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Germany, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Suriname

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