I'm Ross. I'm American. I moved to Izmir in January 2016 following love. I guess that was the right decision, because I married Ezgi, the love of my life in 2017 :) Before that I lived in Istanbul for four years. I'm working as a creative director. I have a warm and curious personality. I'm vegan, missing practicing yoga and meditation, but still on a path towards awareness and kindness.

Professionally I'm a graphic designer who works in motion, web, 3D, video, and print. Personally I'm interested with sign painting and calligraphy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've been a member of CS for a long time, and really disagree with its recent developments. Somehow the site seems to get worse and worse.

However, I traveled Europe for a year with CS and hosted around 50 people in years past.

I must admit CouchSurfing has enriched my traveling experience more than anything else in my life. Exchanging personalities, knowledge, and ideologies with someone who was raised in a different environment; finding widely varying points of view, but also discovering core similarities. Hanging out with locals and dissolving the barrier between tourist and local – completely different from staying in a hostel; when I stay with a local I'm immersed in their environment, in their house, surrounded by their possessions, enveloped in their life, language, and friends. So I'm still giving it a shot..

Interests

• Talking trash.
• Dreaming of traveling.
• Enjoying fresh the possibility of every day.
• Making some art.
• Growing plants.
• Finding trouble.
• Exploring abandoned buildings.
• Feeding my cats.
• Street photography.
• Hitting up museums.

• cats
• arts
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• glastonbury
• festivals
• environment
• cooking
• vegan
• yoga
• meditation
• yachting
• reading
• traveling
• juggling
• blogging
• dumpster diving
• painting
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• kite surfing
• camping
• surfing
• scuba diving
• calligraphy
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music I'm digging:
- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
- The Electones
- The XX
- The Black Keys
- Bright Eyes
- The Arcade Fire
- Weird Al
- Michael Jackson
- Sally Ford and the Sound Outside
- LCD Soundsystem
- Jimi Hendrix
- Led Zeppelin
- Osho
- 'World' music
- Nina Simone
- Death In Vegas
- The Beatles
- Scissor Sisters
- Dead Can Dance
- Beethoven
- Dvorak
- Vivaldi
- Grateful Dead
- Hot Chip

Books I'm digesting:
- History of My Life - Giacomo Cassanova
- Sex and Superconsciousness (Osho)
- Moving into Stillness (yoga)
- The Prophet (wow)
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra
- Brave New World
- The Better of McSweeney's
- The Art of Loving
- The Little Prince
- Hamlet
- Siddartha
- Huckleberry Finn
- Ishmael

Movies and TV:
- The Walking Dead (currently addicted)
- Breaking Bad
- Rocco's Modern Life
- Angry Beavers
- Any documentary
- Water World
- Gladiator
- Anything by Miyazaki (Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, etc)
- The Transformers Movie (1986)
- Pan's Labrynth
- The Waking Life
- The Godfather Trilogy

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Biking the Hills of Tuscany on a 1 Speed Bike

Camping on the Cliffs of Cinque Terre

Biking 100KM From Vevey to Geneva

Exploring the Calanques of Marseille

Furthering My Meditations With a Master

Four Day Hitch Hike to Córdoba

Spending a Week at Carnival in Cádiz

Learning Tantra in Southern Spain

Learned kite surfing in Tarifa

Spent a night in the Sahara Desert

Eating 14 Portuguese pastries in one day

Getting a free ticket to Glastonbury Music Festival from a couple I met in the desert

Falling more in love more deeply I ever dreamed possible

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
- Graphic Design (logos/ branding, stationery, web sites, signs, any print material)
- Metal and wood fabrication/ construction
- Design thinking and problem solving
- Photography
- Web design
- Blogging/ Social networking
- Meditation
- Fasting
- Waiting
- Cooking
- Juggling
- Tarot Reading

Learn:
- Card games
- Meditation
- Languages
- I enjoy listening to and reading sentences from non-native speakers because they are not confined to our 'standard language' and can be hilariously precise.
- I am fascinated in learning about the free lifestyle because I've noticed that my favorite life experiences have not been based around money and I think the artificial inequality our economy creates is silly. Consumerism is tainting society with its ideals that money and possessions bring happiness. If you are a dumpster diver or a squatter, I'd like to pick your brain.

Share:
- Love

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'll make you dinner, wash your dishes, make you laugh, and minimize my impact on your home.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Turkey, United States

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