We have several couches, a yoga/meditation, and an office where people can stay... but first you need to
1. Write a request that might be interesting to you.
2. Make sure your profile is complete, and has a picture!
3. Double check 2.
4. Make sure it's not over 2 months away, as I'll likely forget, if it's under 3 days, I'm likely to be busy and say no.
5. Giggle like a child about going to Cape Town.
Potential surfers (or current surfers) who have questions about Cape Town or travel to South Africa should consult the Cape Town message board http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=1425
Angela Forcier 30, Female Denver, Colorado United States Friends since May 2006 "Met through a mutual friend, only known for a couple months but we've gotten very close in that time." Friendship Type: Close Friend 30+10
Sue Damgaard 27, Female New Haven, Connecticut United States Friends since July 2007 "Rich is my co op mate and also Andrew's brother." Friendship Type: Close Friend
Karen Lampe 26, Female Brooklyn, New York United States Friends since 2005 "Became friends in Antarctica"
Ben Bachelder 34, Male Berkeley, California United States Friends since December 2005 "Undressed him with my eyes while he grooved to the funky house beats in the Waste Barn" Friendship Type: Good Friend I vouched for Richard Jeong
Rebecca Crane 30, Female McMurdo Station, Antarctica Antarctica Friends since October 2005 "Worked together in Antarctica" Friendship Type: Friend I vouched for Richard Jeong 3
Emily Hancock 28, Female Portland, Maine United States Friends since October 2006 "work" Friendship Type: Good Friend
TINYBLUECIVIC 31, Female Durham, North Carolina United States Friends since October 2006 "Housemates" Friendship Type: Friend
Amy Kirkley 31, Female Washington, DC United States Friends since December 2006 "met at a party at his co-op" Friendship Type: Friend
Dan-0: on the road again... Stone 42, Male Denver, Colorado United States Friends since May 2003 "Riche is living proof that there is a higher being !" Friendship Type: Good Friend 55
Mykle Hoban 30, Several people Santa Cruz, California United States Friends since October 2005 "worked side by side at mcmurdo" Friendship Type: Friend I vouched for Richard Jeong 2
If you are coming to DC and are a US Citizen, why don't you spend some time with your elected representatives? Why not tell them what you think about how they are doing? Want to know how, ask me! (I don't care what party you are, you should be engaged!)
I was a (non-god-like) IT Guy for a Quaker Peace Lobby in Washington DC now and am sort of settled again. If it wasn't for that I'd be wandering. As I write this in the last 12 months I've been to Orlando, Key West, Washington DC, Memphis, St. Louis, Denver, Honolulu, California, ChristChurch (and all over NZ), Sydney, Narita(shortly), Shanghi, all along the Yangtze, Seoul, Bangkok, Koh Tao, New Delhi, Agra, Ho Chi Minh, and probably many more to come. I've lived in a car and know what it's like to live "homeless," I've lived in the wilds of industrial McMurdo, I've lived out of a bag for ages on end, I lived as the minority, I've lived without knowing the language.
I spent years trying to find what I wanted to do, and now I'm just finding myself among the world. I want to see the world, not for the world itself, but for the people. I love people and hate society, or perhaps more aptely, I hate the direction that humanity is headed.
In the mean time while I figure out how I can help in my own small way, I'm learning about life and culture directly. Never finished college, I'm somewhat of an autodidact. Read like mad when I can, love to talk and more to listen.
I created an Ice wikifor all those antarctic questions you might have and have always wanted to know about the Ice!
Right now I contribute best by finding and bringing cool and hip people to this wonderful website. I joined a CSC in New Zealand (early 2006) and helped CS to continue to be a useful tool for people around the world and not a crazy web dating site. I am now one of the CS City Ambassadors for Washington DC and help organize and guide some CS'ers to couches near me.
CouchSurfing Experience
I find that people I have time to get to know and talk about real life the most fascinating part of my life. The bullshit of day to day life is necessary, but couch surfing with friends in Australia, or New Zealand, or California, or New York, Seoul, Thailand, or India has been some of the most memorable and shaping times of my life.
Interests
Volleyball, Music, Documentary making, Nature Photography, Traveling, enjoying people's company
Philosophy
Not sure I have much of one that's stable, but the core seems to be: Love life, Love people, help humanity, Waste little, and see the world.
I'd have to say that the Couchsurfing Philosophy is a significant part of my thoughts now given a multiplicity of reasons.
Music, Movies, Books
Movies:Amile, Crash, Spiderman 2, Motorcycle Diaries, V for Vendetta, SERENITY..hmmm.. have to think.
Books:Old man and the Sea, All the Kings's Men, Forever Peace, Fugitive Pieces, the God of small things, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, A Stranger in a Strange Land. http://www.goodreads.com/profile/wonderfullyrich
Music: world collage, Mingus, BXF, Taxi Doll, Coldplay, Eminem, John Mayer, M-Pact, Sarah McLachlan, Bjork, The Postal Service, & Strange things with a good beat.
Types of People I enjoy
Thoughtful types. Listeners and readers. Those who have learned that communication is the toughest battle in a friendship or a relationship. Veggimites, as they inspire me to return to a discipline. Lovers, of life, of humanity, and of course of me. :)
Teach, Learn, Share
How to use a computer 101. How to knit. How to build a basic website. Share a philosophy on communication.
One Amazing Thing I've Seen or Done
Seen: Antarctica. A beautifully peaceful place that is barely touched by humans, making for the most natural place on earth.
Done: Couchsurfed in El Salvador before the site was popular.
Seen: a new city built up the hill from a permanetly flooded place, Fengdu, China.
Meditated: At with the sea from the beautiful and peaceful cove on Koh Tao, Thailand.
Eaten: the stunning food of China.
Devoured: Pad Thai in Thailand and become addicted to the "proper" spice.
Enjoyed: Kimchi Mandu from street vendors in Korea and fallen in love with such things.
Beheld: The Northern Lights from Kotlik, Alaska and learned about Yu'pik and other natives the US has done a good job of screwing over.
Opinion on the CouchSurfing.org Project
This site is a hub of my life without being the center of my life. I'm not sure why I didn't find out about it earlier nor why someone didn't create it earlier. Now that it's here and I'm here, I keep meeting more and more interesting people all over the world. They are my type of world explorers too. The kind who love life and love people.
This summary is not a replacement for reading references; it's a quick summary to help you get started. At a glance, you can see how many references a member has, and how many of them are positive, neutral, and negative.
In the second line, you'll see how many references came from people who hosted this member, surfed with them, and traveled with them. These numbers won't always add up to the total: some references are not categorized, and some may be categorized as more than one thing.
When viewing this summary, don't jump to conclusions! Things that are negative for one person may be positive for another, and vice versa. It's important to read references carefully and evaluate what that information means to you.
From John Richoux New Orleans, United States Jun 13, 2008
Positive
I had a great time hanging out with Rich! He is very interesting and well versed in traveling! I hope we meet again down the road!
From Billy Grayson Pittsburgh, United States Jun 11, 2008
Positive
Richard seems like a great guy - really impressed with all the work he's doing to make CS vibrant in DC, and glad he's also fighting the good fight for progressive social and environmental policy in his job with the Friends
I have met Rich in NYC at the Revival. We had a very short but thus interesting chat on photography. Then I found out that he is the city ambassador from DC, where my parents live. So I plan to see him there in late July, get to know him better and take a lot of pictures. This ref will be soon updated :-)
From Michael Fried Brno, Czech Republic May 19, 2008
Positive
Rich was awesome organizing a pot luck dinner when I came down to DC. Got to meet the CS crew in DC.
Rich ate at the tai tanic with me and Ivan when we surfed in DC (goood noodles). He's a cool guy with a lot of interesting ideas, and I really enjoyed talking to him.
From *Margaret* Alexandria, United States May 11, 2008
Positive
I've seen Rich a bunch over the past year and he's such a good guy...always really helpful and welcoming. Thanks for giving me a hand in organizing:) He's a great DC ambassador.
From Brad Dorrance New Orleans, United States Apr 24, 2008
Positive
Richard invited fellow beltway Couchsurfers to his place for a BBQ. He cleared up many of my misconceptions about Antarctica, for which I'm grateful. He's an all around chill guy and I hope to see him at future D.C. gatherings.
Rich and his housemates were wonderful hosts. Great conversations, drinks on a roof overlooking D.C. and a BBQ made this trip unforgettable. Rich is an inspiration, he has great stories to tell and it was a pleasure getting to know him. i hope our roads will cross again someday.
From Rattan Johal New York, United States Apr 21, 2008
Positive
I'm glad Rich took the initiative to host that BBQ. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time meeting fellow CSers from the DC area and abroad. He's certainly a seasoned traveler and a very pleasant person.
17 
Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Washington D.C.
30+ 
10 
