HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I have surfed five times, met up with a CS non-host once, hosted over a dozen times, and I am able to host. Generally I cannot host with less than at least one week's notice, but you might get lucky. Please be verified. I will likely not consider hosting you otherwise. COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE Five times with this group, and I've surfed couches throughout Europe, Australia and the US via friends and friends of friends. I try to give back to the host via gifts or buying them dinner, as I realize the effort that hosts go to in allowing me to stay with them and share their lives for a few days. Most of the travelers who have stayed with us have been thoughtful in this regard. I love the friendships that have developed.

The Winter of Our Discontent(Steinbeck), biographies, autobiographies, Into the Wild, Still Life with Woodpecker, The Art of Racing in the Rain, any book by James Herriot; Grateful Dead, jazz, Rolling Stones, Mark Knopfler.