CURRENT MISSION

We're newlyweds with one year to share life with as much of Europe as possible before moving to Boston

ABOUT ME

Our families think we're crazy, and we haven't done much to prove them wrong.

Kerrie and I met camping with mutual friends two years ago, while I was living in Detroit and she was in Chicago. Less than a year later, we were engaged and living in Chicago, less than a year after that, we were married and moving to Europe.

While looking into Ph.D. options, we discovered and opportunity to live in Belgium for a year and decided that it was too good to pass up. So, we've got a year-long extended honeymoon, and want to make the most of our time here.

Kerrie is a teacher, specializing in early childhood. I'm studying theology with an emphasis on social ethics (any time I mention studying theology, I feel like it's necessary to emphasize that we are VERY open minded people.

PHILOSOPHY

The good things in our life only have value when we share them with others.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are new to the CouchSurfing world, but both have a long history of welcoming strangers into our home and extending whatever hospitality we can offer.

Hopefully, we can share some of the hospitality we receive when we first came to Belgium, and would love to continue opening our doors when we're in Boston.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've found myself sleeping on more couches and floors than I can count. Usually, it has been related to some type of volunteer work.

One that stands out was a pilgrimage experience that was part of a previous life in a formation program. We were give $35, a one-way bus ticket, and told not to come back for a month. The bus got me to Houston Texas, and from there I begged my way to Mexico City (Guadalupe) and back to Minnesota. Along the way, I met some of the most incredible people I'd ever met, and felt incredibly alive every day.

Interests

Adventure Sports, Acoustic Guitar, Running, Belgian Beer, Cooking (Ker's a Vegetarian), Travel, People that aren't Mean, Hosting Gatherings, Making Leftovers fit perfectly in Tupperware, and Belgian Beer.

• chickens
• ethics
• cooking
• beer
• vegetarian
• running
• gardening
• traveling
• volunteer work
• guitar
• piano
• camping
• sports
• rock climbing
• divinity
• teaching
• history
• languages
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - The last really good movie we saw was Up. Other than that, we'll watch whatever we can get on our laptop, but prefer the Indies.

Music - There is far too much good music out there to narrow it down, but I pursue Indie music with a passion, and am convinced that there is a perfect time and place for every song - the key is making it match.

Books - I love anything by Salman Rushdie or Nikos Kazantzakis. Kerrie is digging Jhumpa Lahiri at the moment. Poets: Gerard Manley Hopkins, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For our honeymoon we walked the Camino de Santiago from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostella - over 500km in 26 days.

Other than that, we've seen about 18 countries so far, and each one has changed our lives.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmm... In no particular order:

Vegetarian Cooking, Guitar, Piano, Bicycle Repair, Virtue ethics, social ethics, Rock Climbing, Camping, Composting, Raising Chickens, Starting Intentional Communities, Nonviolence, Gardening, Languages.

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