CURRENT MISSION

Currently writing an ebook on the getting through the F1 Interview process for students coming to USA to study...

ABOUT ME

I'm a writer, so I'm wordy. Relaxed and friendly, my friends say I have the soul of a gypsy and the heart of a lion..they are way too serious when drinking, obviously!! I just say I’m living a charmed, authentic life and like sharing it with others. I’ve been in Tampa 15 years now, am currently working with an internet social media start-up that I hope will make me rich by the end of this year, but I’m planning my next overseas adventure regardless, all while enjoying life here on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
I don’t sit around much, but when I’m at home I love music, movies, books, art, food and wines, cooking, and entertaining. When I’m not at home I live my life like an adventure novel and if it's fun - I'm in! I've never met anyone I don’t have something interesting in common with, I really enjoy meeting new people, new cultures, and especially sharing new ideas, dreams and perspectives - since you travel you will understand this.
I know my city quite well and I can show you all around if you want, or we can just say "Hey" and "Have fun!" as you're leaving if you want to explore on your own. Everybody travels differently and you're the guest so whatever works for you is cool - definitely not the pushy type.
I’m dependable, emotionally and financially stable, and my list of 'been there, done that' some people find truly inspirational. Drop by, the door’s open...

PHILOSOPHY

I try to live my life like an adventure novel, pushing myself past my comfort zones, and always trying to expand myself instead of becoming more narrow-minded. And I really like this quote from Victor Frankl, holocaust survivor and pioneer of Logo Therapy, "Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

The most interesting people I've ever met have all had one thing in common - a passion for travel and adventures. I'm joining this tribe so I can help, in a small way, anybody who is chasing their dreams to see more, experience more, live more - get more of everything from their short time here...

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Haven't surfed myself yet, but I live a hundred yards from the world's longest, continuous sidewalk, Bayshore Boulevard, here in Tampa. Helping others out who are passing through Tampa will charge up my Karma and increase my odds of being helped out next time I'm in Mongolia, or Budapest, or Christchurch, New Zealand, or when I can't read the train schedule for the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Interests

Today I'm working for an internet start-up with the sole purpose of hitting it big and never having to work again. Until then, loving life in Tampa and relaxing after getting back from a year over in Shanghai teaching English to high-school 10th graders. It was amazing, so was Asia, and Prague or Argentina or even Russia may be next on list...

• dogs
• arts
• writing
• books
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• music
• camping
• scuba diving
• skydiving
• swimming
• communications

Music, Movies, and Books

I love Netflix and I have a BoxeeBox (wireless video streaming) so movie options are endless, music tastes run from Miles Davis to Dave Mathews with Tool and Wax Tailor thrown in for spice. Reading several books at the moment, Corto Maltese, 50 Shades of Grey, Cussler's The Kingdom, and e-books about social media for work.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've managed to do some really fun stuff this time around:
Rode a huge, smelly yak in Lhasa, Tibet
Met the Dali Lama at the University of Miami, Florida
Flirted with Lady Diana and met the Royal Family
Pulled Tug O' War and beat the Royal Navy in front of 70,000 people in Earl's Court, England
Jumped over the net at Center Court at Wimbledon
Got knocked unconscious by a falling coconut on Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory
Tried out for the Navy SEALs, learned how to swim with my hands and feet tied together, quit w/no regrets.
Drove my Porsche 167mph on Sebring Raceway
Cliff diving into the Adriatic Sea, in Italy
White water rafting down the Pacuare River, Costa Rica
Skydiving nine times
Rappelled down a 400 ft. cliff in an Italian quarry
Stood on the base-camp of Mt. Everest in Tibet
Drank Tsing-tao beer in Tsing-tao, China
Rode the 3-day train from Lhasa, Tibet to Beijing, China
Meditated on the Great Wall of China
Swam on five out of seven continents
Visited every state in the USA but two (WA & HI)
The list goes on and on....:)

Teach, Learn, Share

One of the best meals I've ever had was in a small, cold home of a large Chinese family, and their two dogs, sitting around a wooden, rotating table sharing at least two dozen bowls, urns, plates, crocks, of food. Some hot and some cold, some to this day I don't know what I ate, but I tried everything, drank everything offered, and for two hours felt like a man without a country and completely out of my element - and it was amazing and heartwarming. Oh, and NOBODY in the house spoke one word of English except me...

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba

Countries I’ve Lived In

China