CURRENT MISSION

To move to San Francisco, get a teach-English-as-a-foreign-language job, and start writing my novel

ABOUT ME

I have many great stories and experiences to share, and lots of experience listening to others share their stories and experiences.

I love meeting anyone from anywhere. We all share reality and don't know why or how, and I get a great kick out of discussing these things with new people and eventually laughing about it all. New perspectives are not only welcome, they're craved.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe that I am on this planet to have the best experience I can on behalf of the universe without ruining or severely hurting any of the universe's other current or future experiences, and to spread that joy to others when possible, if they want it. Sometimes I feel like the universe has it all planned out for me, and sometimes it feels like a cop out on my own responsibility to say that. I get a kick out of the interconnectedness of all things and pretty much ascribe to synchronicity. I used to be very shy and introverted, and my life is now infinitely better because I am more outgoing and extroverted, willing to take more risks. The death of a friend and my first living abroad experience in New Zealand are main motivators for this change in my approach to life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I suppose I participate by living on couches and exchanging life experience with those I meet along the way. Some day I'll write it all down in a novel as opposed to a journal. When I am finally settled somewhere, I will definitely host people.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Last year I surfed in Oakland a few times, and before that I surfed through great hosts in Bozeman and Missoula, Montana.

I had a full week of being hosted by couchsurfing hosts, in asheville, atlanta, birmingham and new orleans, all of them set up basically the day before. All were great experiences and involved exceptional hosts.

I also had great surfing experiences in El Paso and Flagstaff. And I know it doesn't technically involve this site, but I had another impromptu informal experience surfing in Las Vegas with the boyfriend of a cousin of a friend, set up the night before I hitchhiked from Bryce Canyon in Utah to Vegas. Nothing but positives so far!

Before that I only had unofficial couchsurfing experience in New York and Chicago, either with friends or friends of friends who came through in a pinch. I did end up meeting some people through Couchsurfing in Cambodia, but most of the time I just stayed in hostels that I found when I arrived in town. also, i crashed at a surf shop hosted by a couchsurfing.org member in dalat, vietnam.

Interests

Life, love, laughter, stories, writing, exploring, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, MUSIC! (don't play, but can go on forever about it), meeting new people, imagination, mystery, science, mythology, philosophy, religion, coincidences, metaphors, synchronicity, dreams, creativity, inner truth, traveling, changing plans, having adventures, and the occasional game of hoops or catch (baseball, football, frisbee or some new game I've never heard of)

• writing
• books
• shopping
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• surfing
• baseball
• soccer
• religion
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: This list could go on forever. In short: The Beatles, Radiohead, Phish, The Flaming Lips, Bob Dylan, Hiromi Uehara, Beethoven, Bach, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, The Books, Broken Social Scene, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Simon & Garfunkel, The Who, Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell, They Might Be Giants, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Robert Johnson, The Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Air, Tortoise, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros, DJ Shadow, Wu Tang Clan, Outkast, Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, String Cheese Incident, Bonobo, Feist, Cat Power, Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Ratatat, Ben Harper, so so so many.

Authors: Main heroes are Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut and Walt Whitman. I try to read at least one classic by the greats (Tolstoy, Joyce, Hemingway, Fitzgerald etc.). I love Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith. Hunter Thompson, Khalil Gibran, Ken Kesey, Douglas Adams, Joseph Heller...again, this list could be very long.

Movies: Waking Life, Adaptation, American Beauty, I Heart Huckabees, The Royal Tenenbaums, any Monty Python, Pi, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, any Charlie Kaufman or Wes Anderson pretty much...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

7 month journey around the world, 2 month journey through the southern US, 3 month journey through northern US, a year living and teaching in Japan, half a year studying in New Zealand, two months randomly working harvest at a winery

Teach, Learn, Share

When I meet you...

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, New Zealand, United States

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