Hiya! My partner Inna and I are traveling in South Americ until April, when we return to see the Full Solar Eclipse in Texas!

I am an adventurer by vocation and avocation. I have explored all 50 US states, many of them by motorcycle (as some of my older pictures show). I followed my bliss to the incredible beauty and culture of Colorado, where I have made my home since 2013. Check out my international tour guiding business at https://www.toddsfantasticadventures.com

I earn my ticket to Burning Man as a Black Rock Ranger (Ranger Fantastic): navigating the edge of chaos, always there to help, disappearing into the dust when no longer needed. Leave me a message at HQ if you're on playa! )'(

I had only skied once in my life when I moved to Colorado, so I got a job at a ski resort and put 100+ days on the slopes in one season; I now ski jumps, chutes, and double black diamonds with the natives. I went on my first whitewater rafting trip (Browns Canyon) that a friend guided in 2014; we flipped and I was awestruck and terrified by the raw power of rapids. The following year, I spent two weeks training in the cold and snow in May at 8000ft and became a whitewater raft guide, living in a tent in the Rockies for three months and spending every day on the Arkansas River; paddling through the amazing Class IV Royal Gorge nearly 30 times, capping the season with a wild trip down Class V Gore Canyon. I believe in following your heart, jumping off of cliffs, and growing your wings on the way down.

I lean toward buddhist/taoist principles of adaptability and non-attachment, equanimity and simplicity. With a lot of hard-won experience and time spent alone (including tens of thousands of miles riding cross-continent on a motorcycle), I've come to believe that a life well-lived is a life well-shared and that most any problem can be better (more usefully) seen as a challenge and opportunity.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I try to leave every place I visit better off than how I found it. Whether this means taking my host(s) out for a meal or drinks, or doing the dishes or some other chores, I am more than happy to offer my time and good will to the kind and wonderful souls of the CS community -- who have generously offered me so much in my wide travels.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Too much to mention! I traveled up & down the eastern US for months and months during 2010-2011 using mostly CS, then around the Western states in 2011, and then around the Great Lakes and New England in 2012, having MANY amazing experiences and meeting MANY absolutely unforgettable people that I hope to see again someday. My most recent surfs were when I first moved to Boulder, CO in 2013, to Durango, CO in 2014, when visiting Fort Collins in 2015 and North Dakota in 2016. I also surfed (with my girlfriend) in Auckland while living and traveling in a van in New Zealand for 2/3 months in 2019.

I usually tell people that couchsurfing has changed my life for the better in more ways than I can explain.

Interests

*-*-*-*-* Todd's Rules Of The Road *-*-*-*-*
1. Any situation can be improved with music!
2. Try and leave every place better than how you find it.
3. Anytime something is someone's *favorite*, it is worth looking into.
4. There is _always_ room for more good people in my life.
5. Work with what you have; start from where you are.
6. Accept each person on his or her own terms; meet people where they are.
7. Take care of the things that take care of you; always take care of your people.
8. Leave room for error.

• beauty
• burningman
• festivals
• dancing
• cooking
• beer
• meditation
• drinking
• motorcycles
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• whitewater rafting
• atheism
• business
• entrepreneurship
• history
• philosophy
• science
• lakes
• mountains
• national parks
• authenticity
• virtual reality
• vr
• mbti
• secular humanism
• eccentricity
• tourguiding

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Skinny-dipped (with my then-girlfriend and best friend) in a mountaintop lake in NW Georgia, under a full moon in a clear sky, and howled our hearts out. (2009)

Stepped out into the night, after dancing and drumming at a full moon gathering at Alex Grey's Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (Wappinger's Falls, NY), to the sight of an enormous, full moon moonbow. (2010)

Started the very first mosh pit in the then-37 year history of Austin City Limits to the taping of Flogging Molly! (as I was told afterward by a show producer) (2011)

Summited 9 Colorado fourteeners so far, in 11 attempts. (2015-18)

BURNING MAN 2011, '12, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '22 & 23
Burning Flipside 2011, '12, '13, '18 and '22 (Texas burn!)
Apogaea 2014, '16, '22 & '23 (Colorado burn!)
SOAK 2016 (Oregon burn!)
Enchantment 2015 (New Mexico burn)
Lakes of Fire 2012 and '18 (Great Lakes regional burn)
Firefly 2012 (New England regional burn)
Transformus 2012 (North Carolina burn)
Arise! Music Festival (Colorado) 2014, '15, '16, '17, '18 & '19
Nocturnal! 2011 and '12 (Texas)
Jazz Fest (New Orleans, LA) 2010
DecibelFest (Seattle, WA) 2011
Sonic Bloom 2014, '15 and '16
Electric Forest 2012
Electric Zoo (NY, NY) 2010
All Points West Festival (NY, NY) 2009
Wakarusa 2012 and '13
Bonnarooooo 2013 and '18
Elsewhence 2017 & 2022
<3 )'( <3

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach all about the history, geology, and ecology of Colorado, how to analyze people using the Myers-Briggs Temperament Index (MBTI), roller blading/ice skating, motorcycling skills, various meditation techniques, whitewater rafting basics, and a bazillion other things. I want to learn contact staff, dancing of all kinds, cheap travel techniques, microbrewing, entrepreneurship, and a bazillion other things.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States

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