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Overview

  • 46 references 27 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English; learning French, Korean, Spanish
  • 38, Male
  • Member since 2008
  • Entrepreneur, Teacher, Uber driver, Hack Writer
  • a couple worthless BA degrees
  • From Urbandale, Iowa, USA
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

I have a long history of working office jobs and suddenly quitting to travel or write or do something else. In other words I get bored easily and value new experiences over financial stability.

I also have a long history of eating over-sized burritos and growing over-sized mustaches. Currently I do not have a mustache, but that could always change.

I love meeting new people and learning new things. Sometimes I get carried away and run my mouth about something I'm passionate about, and I bet that makes me sound self-absorbed at times. But the truth is I love listening to other people run their mouths about things they are passionate about even more than doing so myself, so who's self-absorbed now? ;)

The moral of the story is I'd couch surf in hell for the story. Keeping company with weirdos and assholes builds character.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Surfed here and there, and I hosted a couple dozen times when I lived in a nice one-bedroom last year. Had a great time doing that and can't wait to get back into it. I'm also very connected to the LA CS scene and I really owe everything I love about that city to those characters. I am always amazed by the quality of people Couchsurfing attracts.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had great experiences surfing over the past few years, but it wasn't until after I started hosting that I really understood how enriching Couch Surfing can be. I have found it invigorating to meet so many awesome, open-minded people through this site. To me, traveling is about meeting people and learning about other cultures, and in many ways, hosting travelers has been just as inspiring as my adventures overseas.

Interests

travel, cooking, eating, current events, journalism, history, coffee, language, music, writing, movies

  • writing
  • cooking
  • coffee
  • running
  • movies
  • traveling
  • socializing
  • music
  • surfing
  • history
  • journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm pretty keen on good comedies: Arrested Development, I'm Alan Partridge, The Office (British), Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ali G, Party Down, Seinfeld.

Love good movies too. Faves include Apocalypse Now, Magnolia, Rushmore, Harold and Maude, All About Eve, Close Encounters, City of Lost Children, The Fly, The Thing, Inglorious Basterds, Dude Where's my Car, etc.

As for music, I like Sufjan Stevens, PJ Harvey, Queen, Beatles, Stones, Prince, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King, Janelle Monae, Camille, and oddly enough I've recently been rocking out to 19th century German piano pieces, like Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann.

Favorite books include Brothers Karamazov, Catch-22, Cat's Cradle, Blood Meridian, All Quiet on the Western Front, Crime and Punishment, Jude the Obscure, Great Gatsby, Manon Lescaut, the essays of Michel de Montaigne, Lord Jim, etc. plus writers like Dave Sedaris, Bill Bryson, Jon Krakauer, Paul Theroux, Dexter Filkins and Rolf Potts.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Found a hundred dollar chip on a casino floor, doubled it with a bet on roulette and used the winnings to pay for a Cambodian girl's scholarship. If that doesn't get me a seat next to Jesus at the dinner table in heaven then God can sit on a tac.

Teach, Learn, Share

A lot of my sloppiest decisions in life have matured me better than the mature ones.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, Haiti, Italy, Martinique, Puerto Rico

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Mexico, South Korea, United States

Old School Badges

  • 2 Vouches
  • Pioneer Badge

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