CURRENT MISSION

I'm in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the winter.

ABOUT ME

I absolutely love tennis and being outdoors. I'm friendly and love conversation and making new friends. I also love food and am a fairly good cook. Since retiring in 2009 I have been traveling quite a bit. I'm tired of winter and will be away from Alaska for the winter months permanently. I've settled on Thailand as the ideal place to spend my retirement and have lived in Chiang Mai for the past two years. Good experiences while traveling in New Zealand, Fiji and SE Asia have convinced me that a good trip is mostly about the people you meet rather than what you're seeing as a tourist.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm friendly and totally non-violent. I'm very liberal in my political beliefs and non-religious. I abhor the evils in the world especially ethnic or religious war, racism and bigotry. I oppose American intervention into other countries for almost any reason. I favor women's right to choose, legalizing gay marriage and marijuana.

It's one world -- let's begin living that way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I live in a tiny one-room cabin with no couch and no running water so I cannot host people in my home right now. But should that change I'd certainly be a Couchsurfing host.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first experiences as a CSer were fantastic. I could not have picked a better way to experience Berlin and Poland. I also couchsurfed through Spain, in Bilbao and Valencia where I was hosted by some truly fabulous people. I feel like I will be friends for life with my CS hosts. Seeing Europe with their help was truly the best way to do it.

Interests

tennis, GPS and mapping for the OSM community, traveling, motorcycling, reading, walking, digital photography and Photoshop, snorkeling, music, food, coffee, computers and tech stuff

• photography
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• walking
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• snorkeling
• tennis
• software
• volunteering
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

I love reading and music. I like non-fiction and fiction too but typically avoid best-sellers. I listen to a whole range of music, from pop and rock and roll to classical, chamber music in particular.

Some favorite books: Independent People by Haldor Laxness, Sophie's Choice by William Styron, A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Corelli's mandolin, Of human bondage by Somerset Maugham, The Magus by John Fowles, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, 1493 by Charles Mann, Guns, germs & steel by Jared Diamond, The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott, Undaunted courage by Stephen Ambrose, any poetry by Theodore Roethke, any poetry by Billy Collins.

Music: All Mozart Piano Trios, all Beethoven Piano Trios but especially the Archduke Trio, Haydn String Quartets but especially Op 76, while contemporary musicians I like include The National, Dylan, Beatles, Beck, Dire Straits, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Phish.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent a weekend (July 2009) in a remote part of Alaska where we camped out for four nights in an area frequented by brown bears. We were within of a sow and two cubs several times. An awesome sight, especially when you wake up and see them close by outside your tent digging in the ground for food. Wakes you right up!

Teach, Learn, Share

I have quite a bit of experience with computers and the Internet, having designed websites for a while. I also use Photoshop and think it's the best piece of software I've ever used.
My latest interest, bordering on obsession, is being a volunteer mapper for the OpenStreetMap organization. I have done extensive mapping in many areas of Thailand, Alaska, New York State, even Fiji. I love the fact that the roads, streams, lakes and other points of interest I've added end up on OSM's map of the world.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Canada, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Iceland, Kenya, Laos, Malawi, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Thailand, United States

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