Well, I love people. I love meeting people, getting in their head and seeing the world from their perspective. Whether that be over a coffee, a beer, dancing the night away, or in an ideal scenario going on an adventure, my end goal is to learn about and invest in others. It's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I'm currently spending my days working with people living with, affected by, or at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections, providing folks with the skills tools and resources to make informed decisions about their health and become educators in their community.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am of the opinion that Couchsurfing is one of the best things to have ever happened to travelling. When I visit a place, I'm far more interested in the people that inhabit that place then the place itself. I always have a desire to experience what it feels like to live in a space and what better way to achieve that then by spending time with some locals. Couchsurfing provides the perfect avenue to facilitate these connections. At the end of the day it's not really about having a couch to lie on, it's about the people who own that couch and learning about them and their experience of the world. I've met some really incredible people through Couchsurfing, some of whom have become lifelong friends. To me it is such an entirely beautiful way to travel.

Interests

My foremost interest is people. I've done my best to devote the majority of my life to the service of others. I find people fascinating and love getting the opportunity to engage with another person's view of the world and their experience of it. Working with marginalized, often hidden populations is what I've devoted my working life to. My work is really important to me because of the value I've come to ascribe to storytelling. We all have a story to tell; our story, based on our past, our history, our experiences, is how we define ourselves and how we interact with the world. It’s also how we form connection with our fellow humans; and to that extent our opinions, judgements and beliefs about a person, whether positive or negative. There’s also a cultural story at work, the story told by those in the power; the privileged. Due to the pervasiveness of that cultural story, the stories of those who are marginalized or minorities in our society are often not heard from the lips of those whose story it is to tell. Instead, the story we hear about marginalized and minority populations is often told by the prevailing culture and as a result, our values, judgments and beliefs about people are often skewed. At the end of the day my work revolves around supporting those who often are without a voice to be heard, to create more opportunities for people to be able to share their story and empowering them to do so. I firmly believe that it is in the sharing of our stories that we break down the invisible barriers that segregate our society and ultimately achieve health and well-being in our communities.

Having gotten off my soapbox, I also love adventure, particularly the outdoor, in the vast expanse of nature, variety.

• dancing
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• social work
• hitchhiking
• adventure
• social justice
• outdoors
• queer
• communication
• listening
• helping others

Music, Movies, and Books

Authors: Mann, Dostoevsky, Salinger, Hugo, Wilde, Gaiman, Zinn, Calvino etc. Overarchingly and simply put, i love philosophy books that have a narrative.

Directors: Kubrick, Boyle, Aranofsky, Raimi, Hughes, Godard etc. I find that the distinction between reality and fiction is generally very pronounced for me, so i like movies that make me feel.

Music: I've been all over the place lately. Really, just all over the place. I will always have a love for Pixies, Pavement, Pinback, Pedro the Lion... evidentally bands that start with 'P'.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've circumnavigated the entirety of North America via thumb (hitchhiking) and honestly I would say it's one of the most important (if not most important) things I've ever done. I've realized over the years that one is subconciously attracted to like-minded people and vice versa. As a result you often end up encountering the same ideas over and over again, especially if you find yourself in a small community (as was my experiencing growing up). Hitchhiking allowed me to come in contact with an infinitely diverse array of people (and thus ideas) that I would not have encountered otherwise as our paths simply wouldn't have crossed. This was such a monumental factor in the expansion of my mind, my thoughts, beliefs, opinions and values as I realized there was a never ending variety of lenses through which to view the world, each just as valid in their own way as the last. I also learned that if you spend the time and dig deep enough you can find common ground with literally anybody.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States

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