CURRENT MISSION

Now that my son is off to college, I'll be cycling around the country in support of my passion project, ChemoRiders.org, benefitting the American Cancer Society.

I expect I'll do a lot of solo camping on this months/years-long tour and I'm sure I'll be very grateful whenever I can end the day with a couch and good conversation! Thank you in advance for reaching out!!!

ABOUT ME

I am Oliver's father, a humanist, a maverick, a minimalist, a collector of memories, a sports fan, a Rotarian, a Lion, and a friend to all who have kindness in their heart.

PHILOSOPHY

"Memento mori"

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." ~~ Thomas Jefferson

"It's not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?" ~~ Thoreau

"Can I move? I"m better when I move" ~~ The Sundance Kid

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surf and I organize. If I can talk anyone into visiting my humble town, I'll host too. Mostly I'm roaming, though. If I roll through the city and only meet my hosts, I consider that a failure on my part. I love to stir up the pot of locals and introduce them to each other, hopefully leaving a trail of excited CSers in my wake.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

3/09 Laura got it all started in Ypsi. What an amazing woman.
7/09 I hosted a small gathering of locals
9/09 I spent a week in Denver. Literally, the best vacation of my life, thanks to CSers
11/09 New Haven, CT... I wasn't sure if my Denver success could be duplicated. After all, there are few places on earth quite like it. New Haven proved to me that it's about the people, not the place
12/09 New Orleans, LA. My trip didn't do the city justice. I met a couple cool surfers, but a combination of bad weather and personal drama ruined the trip. I'll be back.
12/09 Noel Night in Detroit. Uneventful night, but great to start meeting more locals
2/10 Beer Fest in Grand Rapids. Great opportunity to spend extended time with locals and get to know them better
5/10 Detroit Couch Crash. 'Nuff said.
7/10 Road Trip Tim met up with me in Bay City. We proceeded to tear it up in Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Cincy. He dropped me off in NYC and I spent a few days on Long Island.
8/10 Canoeing, Camping, and meteor-gazing in Ann Arbor. I also jumped off of a rail bridge four times.
11/10 Made a cameo in Austin. Loved it, even the horrendous pulled pork sandwich. Reunited with Abe for a series of adventures, including a weak attempt at rock climbing and a bus party.
1/11 Nathan's Workers Party. Reunited with many locals and met many more. Weekend was pretty hazy, but a good time was had
2/11 Beth's Divorce Party. River rocks, car bombs, and many shenanigans
3/11 Shamarchy. Arrived late, left early, still had a great time. Many thanks to Kevin for letting me ride in the trunk of his car!
3/11 Layover in Kalamazoo. Met up with some CSers & family at The Strutt. Crashed @ Matt's.
4/11 NJ/MA business trips. Hung w/ Vilma & others in NYC, Jennifer & others in Boston. Crashed Julie's bday party in Philly.
5/11 CA/TX/FL/SC/PA business trips. "Tree of Life", sleeping on softball fields, minor league baseball, movie-less movie nights and the penultimate space shuttle launch
2/13 Virginia
6/13 Harrisburg/Erie/Cleveland road trip with Derik
7/14 Grand Rapids Couch Crash. French pastries, nude luchador art, pub crawl, and helping Andaiye move

2015-18 Life changed a bit and I fell out of touch with the community. I miss you all! I'm ready to come back to my people.

6/19 Buffalo/Erie Taking my son and his friends to see Niagara Falls and ride some roller coasters. Plenty of Magic the Gathering will be played along the way.

4/22 Orlando Stayed with Dave and Alex while trying to recruit sponsors for Relay for Life.

Interests

I'm down for most anything as long as I have nice people to share it with.

Parties, hiking, biking, sports, sight-seeing, quiet nights inside. Most things in moderation, a few in excess.

• arts
• education
• beer
• partying
• pub crawls
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• camping
• sailing
• sports
• baseball
• swimming
• business
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

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One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Raising a generous, open-minded son who loves seeing what the world has to offer. He recently started college. 😱

Regularly meeting random CSers in random places and doing random things. I think it's amazing on both micro and macro levels.

Teach, Learn, Share

Sailing. SAILING! I've gotten to be pretty decent over the last couple years, but there's still so much to learn. If you want to learn, I'd be happy to teach. If you want to teach, I'd be happy to learn!

I'd like do a longer triathlon and/or run a marathon in the near future, so long-distance swimming and running are good topics.

I'm actively trying to improve my Spanish. I'd love opportunities to practice, learn, and teach.

Dancing is something I want to do more of in life. I'm interested in learning all styles!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I don't know... what do you need? I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities CS gives me, so I'm happy to give back whenever possible.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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