Hey there! If you would like to stay with us, please read my "Home" page -- especially the "You Should Know" section -- before sending a request to stay or a personal message. (Follow the "Read More" link below "Accepting Guests" in the app.) Please do not send a personal message if you plan to request to stay. I owe this community a ton, from my host in Switzerland who saved me from a horrible landlord to everyone I've met along the way, and I'm excited to meet you!

My hometown is the San Francisco bay area, California, and I have a correspondingly bright, sunny personality, with just a touch of edginess from my collegiate years in Boston, Massachusetts. Richmond, Virginia, will be my home for the next 7+ years as I work through a dual medical and graduate degree, caught somewhere between trying to save the world and staying sane.

I like to maximize the number of things I do in a given time frame, including living in as many places as possible and meeting as many people as possible. I go to sleep early to wake up early to do more things, but I'm all for late night conversations and crazy kitchen endeavors until I pass out.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Why are any of us here? The best part of traveling is meeting locals and making new friends, which you can't easily do from the privacy of a hotel room. I'm here because I think it's silly for people to have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to stay, bored, nearby when there are empty rooms at my place. I'm also here because I'd rather not be in one of those empty, boring hotel rooms when I'm abroad or away from home. It's more interesting to meet locals for the real tour.

Interests

I tend to be hard to pin down, whether on some wacky idea of an adventure rock climbing in Croatia, hitch-hiking in France, running 27 miles two weeks before the Boston marathon, skiing off cornices in Tahoe, or bicycling some ridiculous distance to work. If you can corner me in a kitchen, I'll chop up a mean stir fry or bake any of my mom's delicious dessert recipes for people with sweet teeth (mine are missing somehow...). My favorite chore is doing dishes. I don't partake in drugs or alcohol, but I don't care if you do and are generally in control of yourself. I grew up in California, after all. My life calling is to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, to study the microbiome (the bacteria that surround you), and to deliver nanoscale medicinal packages to your cells. I get my dopamine hit from pretending to save the world by shuffling papers and moving mL of liquid from one tube to another.

I have an awesome sketchy white van named Snowball. My van, my aloe plant, and I have been to most states in the continental USA. But we missed a few, so road-trip are always a go!

• arts
• dining
• cooking
• dieting
• running
• traveling
• cycling
• skiing
• martial arts
• rock climbing
• paragliding

Music, Movies, and Books

I love anything that makes me laugh out loud, think, and grow. I've read a fair amount of medical nonfiction (such as by Atul Gawande), and I highly recommend Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (hpmor.com). Weird and lighthearted movies tend to be my favorites, and Scrubs is my favorite show. I listen to all genres of music, but rarely. Heavy rain on a metal roof is my favorite sound.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've had many experiences for which I'm grateful, but running off a cliff to paraglide in Saint-Hilaire, France, often tops the charts.

Teach, Learn, Share

Do you to want to gain some basic medical survival skills? Share cuisines and cooking techniques? Head out for a run or bicycle ride on favorite local paths? Pick up some skills rock climbing, ice climbing, or both, top rope, lead or trad? Exchange language lessons? Swap adventure stories? Or hey, learn to tat (make lace)? One of the best parts of this site is all there is to teach, learn and share.

What I Can Share with Hosts

- Hands (housework, climbing belay, hair cuts, stitches)
- Food (like hot chocolate fudge cake, if you lend an oven...)
- Conversation (and English grammar, if you're a student or working on a job application)
- Knowledge (science, medicine, and the eclectic skills I've learned along the way)
- Hosting exchange (come visit me!)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Madagascar, Mexico, Norway, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ecuador, France, Madagascar, Switzerland, United States