CURRENT MISSION

Inspire people to do things they wouldn't have if they hadn't met me.

ABOUT ME

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While backpacking in Olympos, Turkey, we decided to get to know each other by presenting to each other our "Five Minute Life Story." I think its pretty appropriate here.

If you want more than 5 minutes, I have a website, B Dog's Debaucherous Travel Stories. http://bdogstravels.com

But for now...

0:00

Born Eau Claire, WI, November 1, 1985. Grew up in Madison, WI. Nothing really of note happened until I was 16. In a study hall conference I got to know a couple people that would eventually become my best friends and I can singularly draw connections from any point in my life back to knowing the people I met that year.

0:31

Met Tytti when I was 16 at a high school football game, and thought nothing of it at the time. Tytti, an exchange student from Finland, is still probably the most important person in my life. Never had gotten to know a foreigner before, they didnt come often to conservative small town Wisconsin. 9 months later she was leaving for home with a roomful of people in tears. I said to myself, "I want that powerful, emotional, lifechanging experience she went through."

1:08

Went to University at the University of Minnesota, because I didn't want to go to the University of Wisconsin, because I would still be going to school with the same people I went to high school with. I didn't want that. Started out in Engineering, but never really liked that. It was kinda recommended to me. No, what I really wanted to do was study abroad. Student exchange. Like Tytti.

1:42

Good. Still doing alright for time. Went to Alicante, Spain, with 3 months of spanish to my knowledge. I had taken German in high school as a foreign language. Why Spain instead of Germany? Isn't it obvious? Walking distance to the beach, lots of sun, good climate (Minnesota sucks in winter, let me tell you), cheaper, bars open all night (I was not yet 21 either).

2:24

3 weeks in I travelled to Barcelona with some friends in what was probably the craziest weekend of my life. Met J.J. "Brock" Burns and his partner in crime Blake Hite. These are two guys that you meet once and you remember them the rest of your life. 3 year-and-counting world travellers, hitch hikers, illegal workers, anything you can imagine for illigitimate travel means type guys. I was enamored with the concept (Why not me?) Also the guys that introduced me to Couchsurfing. This was also the weekend of the imfamous Hooker Incident.

3:23

Studying abroad in Spain was everything I could have asked for. We didn't have a full three weeks for spring vacations but I took that long, because I did a train pass throughout Western Europe. At the end of the semester I flew to the greek islands... 4 days in Ios floored me, left me saying to myself, "I should live here." Flew to Finland to see Tytti. A well worthwhile endeavor.

3:52

Gotta watch my time now. Went back to Uni, changed my major to international studies, worked my ass off to save money and graduate as early as possible, because now I had a new idea in my head. Go to Greece. Live and work on the paradise islands for a summer season, with the sun, sea, booze, and beautiful people from all over europe and indeed the world. Maybe never come home, and travel for the rest of my life.

4:14

May 2008 thats exactly what I did, first on Ios, then on Paros Island. Quit working in August, and went to Naxos for Couchsurfing Summercamp. Wow was that brilliant. There I met Elif, a Turkish girl, who had a really profound impact on my life.

4:30

After getting home and working the old job for a few months, and getting certified to teach English as a foreign language, I applied for jobs in Turkey, but instead my good friend Tom, who'd been working for his family's bar in Dominical, Costa Rica for a half year, dragged me down to Central America for the first time. I did a bunch of occasional oddball jobs and a lot of house sitting, and in general had a blast. Eventually I had to go home to finish up the application process for the next big adventure: Korea - where I taught English for a year.

5:02

Well, its a pretty difficult task to do it in 5... Anyway, as of February 23rd, 2011, I'm running to Southeast Asia to backpack Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia (see you there?) I and I hope to find more teaching work in Thailand at the end.

Final note, R.I.P. to an incredible person, J.J. Brock Burns, whom I had planned to meet during my 2008 Greece trip, only to learn in Greece that he had died in a car accident in Macedonia. "Legend" comes to mind. But I don't feel sorry for him. How can you feel sorry for someone who died by living exactly on his terms and never compromising, always succeeding? I know he would look back with zero regrets.

PHILOSOPHY

1.) I don't believe anyone should conform to a system... be it religious, political, social, or otherwise... that prohibits or discourages personal growth, exploration, freedom.

2.) It's my personal goal in life to never become boring. I'm always looking to top myself. I want to take it as far as I possibly can.... and when I'm old, everybody will be gathering around me to hear the incredible stories I have.

3. To quote Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson in The Departed), "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of ME!"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In my earlier days of couchsurfing they were kinda few and far between. For the most part the 18 to early 20's group. When I moved to Seoul, got my own place, and designated my couch as "Definitely", it's felt like a non-stop hosting experience! It's been great fun! As for myself I've couchsurfed in Athens, Bulgaria, Budapest, and San Jose in Costa Rica, all very positive experiences. My best friends while working on Paros island were fellow couchsurfers, and Naxos Couchsurfing Summercamp 2008 was probably the highlight of my year. I am quite eager to go to more meetings following that experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Outside of whats listed in the previous section, I've done it unofficially (Not through the website). In London a random Polish airline Stewardess for RyanAir took me home with her when the ATM wouldn't give me pounds and I was stuck begging on the street for bus fair at 1 am. Kindness of strangers, right? Outside of that I've stayed with friends in places like Finland, Dublin, Istanbul, Austria, and Spain without having any real place to crash and it's worked out well.

I was going to surf on my trip out to Colorado one spring, but I ended up not taking the trip. Let's just call it unfortunate Grand Theft Auto. I'm not talking about the videogame.

Interests

Outside of people, cultures, and traveling... I love to play guitar, I like American football, big crowds and events excite me. I enjoy trying to learn my spanish better, and I'd like to work on my German as well. I like being outdoors, playing casual sports (I LOVE frisbee, and stuff like skiing, water skiing, swimming, etc.) Camping and bonfires are awesome. Nothing beats a good concert, as I adore music in general, particularly when live. I'm always up for a good cookout at a sporting event, or even just for the hell of it. I like to do things that scare me; Jumping off of cliffs and stuff. I'm not afraid to go up and talk to anyone. I enjoy a good beer or 20 sometimes, when in good company. Really, I live for crazy nights where I wake up in the morning and can say to my friends... "Wow... do you believe that just happened!?" You know, the nights where you know that 20 years from now, you'll still be telling this story and laughing at it.

• dogs
• beauty
• concerts
• environment
• beer
• running
• walking
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• backpacking
• camping
• skiing
• sports
• american football
• soccer
• swimming
• engineering
• study abroad
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: The Departed, Fight Club, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and at the top of the list, my friends and I have entire conversations using nothing but quotes from The Big Lebowski. You cannot fully understand me without seeing that film, probably multiple times.

Music: I'm a guitar guy, so I like stuff with a lot of guitar. I like more complicated compositions, but I also admittedly like something that can be danced to... when drunk in a bar or club. Prefer live bands to stereo or DJ. Classic Rock and Jam Bands are good. Love Reggae. Actually I get quite picky with music sometimes. Check out, if you've never heard of them, moe., Sublime, Derek and the Dominoes.

Books: Finished Uni and just started to get back into reading as a form of passtime. Barack Obama's books are quite worth the read. Other than that, The Day of the Jackel, which chronicles the 1963 assassination attempt on French President Charles De Gualle was one of the best written things I've ever laid my hands on.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I flew into Athens on a trip that took 16 hours including an 8 hour layover overnight in Frankfurt Airport. From there it was another hour long trip by bus to Piraeus, the port which goes to the islands. I sat and waited for 5 hours for my ferry to arrive, during which time I just walked around and tried to protect my luggage. The ferry trip lasted a few hours as well, getting into Ios at midnight.

I can't exactly pinpoint which moment it was that changed me... but it was somewhere in here. Even as someone who describes himself as a partier and night owl I was so exhausted my plan was to check into Francesco's hostel and sleep. Carrying my luggage through the narrow winding streets up the stairs was a struggle to say the least, but I was greeted by train after train of the most beautiful, friendly travelers from every corner of the earth running to the bars for a night out. I threw my bags down as soon as I could and ran to meet up with them. In that moment I knew that no matter what, no matter how fatigued or sleep deprived I was, I could not waste this opportunity.

In the morning I walked out of the hostel. Having come in at midnight I missed the sight of the sea and the islands in the hazy distance. So as I took my first step into the daylight, I froze, my jaw hit the ground, my eyes were cereal bowls, I dropped whatever it was that I was carrying in my hand at the time and just let it lie on the floor as I stood, breathless, paralyzed by the inherit beauty of the place as my blood coursed through my body, my heart raced, and I forgot everything I had ever known.

Then and there, in that moment, nothing else mattered. I didn't know what exactly I had been looking for all this time, but at that precise moment, with the white stone beneath my bare feet and golden warmth on my skin, I knew I'd found it.

Teach, Learn, Share

Here's an interesting one for you: The greatest obstacle to achieving your goals is comfort. Comfort leads to complacency. Complacency leads to inaction. Inaction leads to boredom and acceptance of circumstances. If you ever find yourself completely comfortable, something is wrong. You need to do things that scare you, with uncertain endings. That's how you come to the greatest moments of your life. The pride of triumph and the satisfaction of overcoming obstacles... If you ever get to a point where you say, "This is good enough, I'm comfortable," you've already lost. Push things as far as they can go in whatever you do, until your short time here is up. Being dead is easy, you don't have to do anything. Be comfortable then.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, Greece, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United States

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