Not Verified
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
@AlxanderNelson
Member since 2011
MY PAST JOURNEYS: LATIN AMERICA | 2014 - 2015 | I flew to Mexico City for what was supposed to be a two month trip through Central America. A year later I flew home from Lima, Peru. EASTERN EUROPE + MIDDLE EAST | 2016 | 28 countries in five months and almost all overland! A whirlwind experience. NORTH AMERICA | 2017 | An epic road trip! I visited 37 States, 2 Canadian Provinces and stayed in 45 separate cities. With the 22,000 kilometers I drove I could have gone from Paris to Beijing! I Couchsurfed nearly the entire way! EUROPE + ASIA | 2017 - 2020 | I spent a few years living in and traveling across Europe and Asia. In Europe I lived in Portugal and visited 7 other European countries while there. In Asia I traveled through 18 countries, including nearly every country in East and South Asia. Why do I travel so much? I got hooked and it's become my passion. On occasion I give presentations at colleges or social clubs about why they should adventure abroad and what the experience can teach them.
Fluent in English
Learning Portuguese
Learning Spanish
Why I'm on Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing delivers a fascinating and engaging experience, that's often well worth it despite the seldom headache. I've found fellow Couchsurfers to be a very special breed of people. HOSTING EXPERIENCES: PORTLAND, USA: Travelers from Japan, Germany and France SEATTLE, USA: Travelers from the US, Spain, Belgium, Canada, China, Belarus, Germany, and Korea LISBON, PORTUGAL: Travelers from Israel, Morocco, and Indonesia SURFING EXPERIENCES: UNITED STATES: San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Sequim, Dallas, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Big Island of Hawaii, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Denver, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Austin, Jackson, Little Rock, Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Charleston, Raleigh, Washington DC, Hartford, Detroit, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Des Moines, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Bismarck, Rapid City, Billings CANADA: Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto MEXICO: Tijuana, Mexico DF, Puebla, Tuxtla Gutierrez GUATEMALA: Xela HONDURAS: San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa COSTA RICA: San Jose PANAMA: Ciudad de Panama, Colon COLOMBIA: Medellin, Barranquilla VENEZUELA: Maracaibo, Caracas, Margarita, Valencia, Maracay, San Cristobal ECUADOR: Guayaquil, Cuenca PERÚ: Trujillo JORDAN: Amman SLOVAKIA: Bratislava AUSTRIA: Vienna CZECH REPUBLIC: Prague NORWAY: Oslo SWEDEN: Gothenburg UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Dubai SINGAPORE INDONESIA: Yogyakarta PHILIPPINES: Manila JAPAN: Tokyo SOUTH KOREA: Seoul
Music, Movies, and Books
BOOKS: Shantaram, Lord of the Rings, Fahrenheit 451, Things Fall Apart, American Gods, China in Ten Words, Country of the Blind, China Road, Years of Rice and Salt, Conquistador, Into the Wild, I am Malala, Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, The Kite Runner, The Great Gatsby, The Keys to the Kingdom Series, Oryx and Crake MOVIES: Fight Club, Footloose, Dazed and Confused, The Motorcycle Diaries, Lord of the Rings, Top Gun, Space Jam, Grownups 2, The Room, Battlefield Earth
One Amazing Thing I've Done
While spending three months in Venezuela a picture I took with the stacks of Bolivars I had bought on the Dollar black market for only a couple hundred bucks went viral and was widely circulated by those critical of the government's fiscal policy. I was recognized in the street and I also did a few interviews, here's an example: http://contrapunto.com/noticia/el-gringo-detras-de-la-mesa-llena-de-dolares-14258/
What I Can Share With Hosts
I've been to a lot of cool places and I've planned everything myself so if there's anywhere I've been that you're looking to visit I can give you all the knowledge I have. I have many strange tales to tell! I also really enjoy having free-wheeling and raucous conversations. What's the most controversial topic where you live? Let's talk about it. What opinion of yours is the most out there? Tell me about it.
