A Missionary Kid through and through, I grew up in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, where my parents began work on translating the Bible into one of the over 800 different languages of the most linguistically diverse place on earth. Ever since I was 9 months old, I've traveled between worlds: one--a bamboo house surrounded by coconut trees in a village virtually untouched by modern society, another--a small international community about 45 minutes helicopter ride away made up of fellow missionaries where I learned to love the many cultures of our world, and finally--the US, which, though technically my passport country, I consider to be the most foreign of them all.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, adventure was free. I could hike as far away as I wanted and set up a tent and all would be fine. Adventure was all around me. Here in Japan though, I have to more actively go out and search for it, which is a shame as the size of my wallet pales in comparison to the size of my dreams. There are a lot of places I'd love to go that I simply cannot if I have to pay for a place to stay. Also, I'm an extremely sociable person and love meeting new people, from all walks of life. I believe everyone has a story worth hearing, and Couchsurfing sounds like just the thing that would let me hear quite a lot.

Interests

I love to try new things, as well as actively go out and seek unplanned adventure in my free time.
Hobbies include: SCUBA diving, hiking (and mountain-climbing), camping, caving, fishing, dirt-biking, off-roading, carpentry, working on cars, basketball, ultimate frisbee/frisbee golf, volleyball, skateboarding, road biking, card games, building just about anything with my hands (DIY), reading, film-making, photography

• culture
• photography
• diy
• off-roading
• reading
• cars
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• spelunking
• camping
• scuba diving
• skateboarding
• basketball
• rock climbing
• volleyball
• golf
• history
• languages
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett
Favorite Bands: Angels & Airwaves, Mumford & Sons, Imagine Dragons, Hillsong, Bethel, also some pacific reggae
Favorite Movies: LOTR, POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl, Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Hot Rod, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Princess Bride, Hot Fuzz, The Hunt for Red October, Sahara, anything Jackie Chan
Favorite TV Shows: Vikings, Parks & Recreation, Psych, GoT, Big Bang Theory

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I climbed one of the seven summits...with a cold...and without boots. Sort of. Let me explain: Summiting Mt. Wilhelm, the tallest mountain in Oceania, was always something I wanted to do and finally did get to do about a year and a half ago. Being physically "ok", I decided it was not necessary to train for the climb (as back then I thought bench press=cardio). I also had a history with asthma that had faded away in middle school but from time to time came back. Suffice to say, I had a hard time even making it to base camp, where I quickly contracted a cold. However, I had made it that far and I wasn't about to let something that stupid stop me. 2 days later, I made it to the top, but much to my chagrin, within 5 minutes of beginning the trip down, the soles of both of my boots came off such that all that was left was a smooth rubbery surface. I had to slip and slide for the next 7 hours before I made it back to base camp where I fortunately had another pair of shoes. The upshot: I got my own personal guide assigned to me and we spent the entire time talking about his life and the area and I even got to learn some of his language.

Teach, Learn, Share

Some Papua New Guinea culture. Most people have no idea where it is, or if they do, usually suppose that it's still inhabited entirely by cannibals! Even if you've never heard of it, I'm more than happy to tell you as much as you want to know about one of the least-explored places on Earth.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, South Korea, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Papua New Guinea, United States