CURRENT MISSION

Measure Twice, Cut Once

ABOUT ME

My name is Thomas J. McBride.

I am currently 29 years old. I am living in Pacific Beach, San Diego, California. I left the military as a Navy Corpsman (medic) due to a combat injury in Afghanistan - 16Oct08. I retired from the military June 2010.

I am taking it easy and getting back into the Couchsurfing scene.

You can google: Thomas McBride+Oprah or Steven Curtis Chapman or George Bush or Keith Lepor (Boston, R)

I am taking things easy and open to new experiences and locations. I like to relax and enjoy a good dive bar or firepit with beers.

PHILOSOPHY

"To the untrained eye ego-climbing and selfless-climbing may appear identical. Both kinds of climbers place one foot in front of the other. Both breathe in and out at the same rate. Both stop when tired. Both go forward when rested. But what a difference! The ego-climber is like an instrument that's out of adjustment. He puts his foot down an instant too soon or too late. He's likely to miss a beautiful passage of sunlight through the trees. He goes on when the sloppiness of his step shows he's tired. He rests at odd times... He goes too fast or too slow for the conditions and when he talks his talk is forever about somewhere else, something else. He's here but he's not here. He rejects the here, is unhappy with it, wants to be farther up the trail but when he gets there he will be just as unhappy because it will be 'here.' What he's looking for, what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him. Every step's an effort, both physically and spiritually, because he imagines his goal to be external and distant."
-Author Unknown

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I started CS May 2007 when I was living in North Carolina, to go on a trip to the UK. In 2009 I moved to San Diego and had the opportunity to host over 20+ surfers. I have had some great CS moments and friends made. Now I am on a search all my own, and I look forward to seeing Couchsurfers around the country.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

- May 2007 - surfed UK
- Found a old friend on CS in Hawaii and now we are all best-friends
- Attended "Tipsy Tuesdays" with the San Diego CS group several times
- Very positive experiences - nothing I regret
- Able to Host in San Diego

Interests

- Photography, Medicine, Reading
- Surfing, Skateboarding, Painting, Drawing
- Existentialism
- Writing and Reading

-I DO NOT WATCH TELEVISION-

• writing
• photography
• beer
• reading
• painting
• drawing
• surfing
• skydiving
• skateboarding
• rock climbing
• medicine
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, Disturbed, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, Flobots . . .

*Transgressional Fiction*
Fight Club - Johnathan Livingston Seagull - the Five People You Meet in Heaven - the Alchemist - the Prophet - the Great Divorce - Kitchen Table Wisdom - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff

Movies*the Boondock Saints, Fight Club, the Fountain

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Help Build 2 Churches in the Dominican Republic.
-Skydiving
-Slept on the streets of Tokyo, Japan.
-Worked with Afghan National Army to rebuild a country.
-World's Largest Tug-of-War, Okinawa Japan 2007
-On the Oprah Winfrey show
-Met President George Bush 2 times - not the best conversations (haha).
-Lost my right leg below the knee from a Mortar in Afghanistan.
-Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote a song about me... that President bush handed me.
-PURPLE HEART recipient
-Care for the homeless

Teach, Learn, Share

Share/Teach:
- Basic Life Saving Skills - CPR, Medicine
- Photography
- War (deployed with the Marines March - Oct 2008). Was a "Combat Advisor" for the Afghan National Army (in actual combat).

Learn:
- Other cultures

Countries I’ve Visited

Dominican Republic, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Afghanistan, Japan, United States

• 

•