CURRENT MISSION

To be open to the world's lessons.

ABOUT ME

I am an excitable biology geek living in Oakland and working at a synthetic biology company. In my spare time i'm usually working on some sort of craft or hobby.

I became inspired by couch surfing when I traveled all around Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru by myself one semester, and met many random wonderful people. I'm an avid explorer and love to find little gems in seemingly "boring" places.

PHILOSOPHY

Adventure is often thought of as this quest to some crazy location, but I think it can be something far more simple. It can be simply suspending your expectations, trying something different, and enjoying whatever comes. Like cooking something when you have no idea how it will turn out, or biking to some random part of town and keeping your eyes open for anything that grabs your attention. I love how for travelers and hosts in couchsurfing you have this situation where you have no idea what it is going to be like, but you trust it will be interesting and enjoyable and so you go with it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had two awesome "official" experiences with couchsurfing and a handful of unofficial ones. All great experiences!

My first couchsurfing experience really set the bar for me! I traveled to UC Davis in 2008 and stayed with a guy named Matt who's 3 interests were listed as "fire, compost, and the circus." How could it not be a bad experience? He lived in this weird collection of "domes" that were some vestige of a minimilist hippy housing experiment in the 70's. They had just build a new dome and so were having a "dome raising" party. I experienced dub step for the first time and had my mind blown. I still keep in touch with some of the people I met that trip.

A few years later I traveled to Missoula Montana, and couchsurfed with a local author. I ended up reading one of his books that was set in Missoula while staying at his house. It was such a cool way to interact with a book. I would read until I encountered some new location, and then bike to that location to check it out in the flesh. On top of that I was able to meet a lot of great people that I have kept up with over the years.

Unofficially I stayed with some Chileans I met while traveling in South America and if it counts, joined other groups of backpackers while backpacking alone on a few occasions.

Interests

science education, compost, abnormal color vision, facial expressions, beekeeping, brewing, long distance running, etymology, spanish language and culture, different ways of approaching story telling, silk screening

• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• design
• coloring
• education
• cooking
• running
• partying
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• backpacking
• surfing
• biology
• cartography
• teaching
• etymology
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Bobby McFerrin, Ratatat, Entre Rios, Sylvan Esso, Feist, Boards of Canada, Animal Collective, Philip Glass

Books:
In Patagonia: Bruce Chatwin
The Botany of Desire: Michael Pollan
Lost Books of the Odyssey: Zachary Mason
Shantaram: Gregory David Roberts
Invisible Cities: Italo Calvino
Everything Matters!: Ron Currie Jr.
Ficciones: Borges
East of Eden: Steinbeck
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting: Milan Kundera

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A few years after September 11th, a picture surfaced of what appeared to be some brooklynites enjoying a sunny day and a spectacle while the twin towers burned across the harbor. It is a really bizarre picture that provokes all sorts of strange emotions. In reality they were in shell shock- not "enjoying" the spectacle but just trying to process it from the closest angle they could. And it happened to be a beautiful day that day. There is actually a cool article about this photo here where one of the people captured in the photo speaks about their experience: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2006/09/i_took_that_911_photo.html

Anyway, I've always felt disconnected from 9/11. I had never been to NYC, never seen the towers. There was some aspect I just felt like I didn't get, and this photo really intrigued me. So when I visited NYC for the first time in 2014 I made it my mission to find the spot where that photo was taken. I pulled out some maps, and used the location of the bridges in the photo to triangulate where it was taken. I narrowed it down to a stretch of about 30 buildings and set off with my camera. It took a bit but I eventually found it! It was tucked behind this restaurant and they wouldn't let me go back there. So I snuck in. I got a nice shot but realized the angle was a bit off, so I started to creep forward. But before I could reach the perfect angle to try to replicate the shot, a maintenance person showed up and I panicked and bolted. I went to a cafe across the street and spent awhile reflecting on it. I can't say anything particular wise came out of the experience, but it did help me empathize. And I have to say, I absolutely love engaging with a place through these sorts of treasure hunts.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Killer breakfasts or a nice homecooked dinner. Stories. A compassionate ear. An enthusiasm for rediscovering the city you live in. An explanation of anything sciency. I'll talk my way through it until i'm a few steps into bullshitting you, and then probably admit defeat.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Peru, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland