CURRENT MISSION

To add richness to our life through the experiences of art, food, creativity, culture, and meeting new people!

ABOUT ME

We love to travel, love it lots. If Mike could be paid to travel and could feed our three kiddos, he'd do it. Mike has been all over from different parts of Canada all the way to Europe and back again. Mike lived in Germany for 3 and a 1/2 years, and would love to go back again someday. We have been married for more than 9 years. We love outdoor activities, especially biking & hiking! We read and have been involved in book clubs, love photography, travel (of course), cooking, art, and music.

PHILOSOPHY

We live our lives to call out the goodness in others around us, to generously lavish kindness and smiles to anyone we connect with and to drink deeply the richness of living even the most mundane of days. We are alive, and there is much to see and do. As the poet Rich Mullins wrote, "There is so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see, so everywhere I go, I'm looking."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We love hosting and it's the primary way we participate these days. We're all about conversation, learning about the people that come through, having great meals and learning about amazing new places to put on our bucket lists. We expect nothing from our guests except that they show up and that they also want to converse and share experiences.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We've had the opportunity to host a traveler once passing through on his way to University and it was a great experience. We gave him a great meal, then took him down to the UW for a beer on the terrace, where he ended up juggling for the crowds there! We shared stories of travel and adventure, life purpose and vision. We look forward to doing that again!

We've also traveled through London and Cambridge on the couches of new friends. Our CS friend in Cambridge has moved on to Oxford, but what a stay that was! We were welcomed on the rainy evening with warm, delicious dinner smells and his showcasing us a guest diary that he has for guests packed with useful tips for sight-seeing. We cooked for him one evening to show our gratitude and we have remained in contact. Our CS host in London was equally wonderful, we took him out to dinner at a nearby place, heard many stories of living in Sarajevo, enjoyed his London tips and had a photography sitting! THIS is what CS is about, meeting interesting people and fueling the desire to get out even more.

Prior to CS being around, Mike "surfed" in Italy with friends he made on the train in Germany. He stayed with a family that has now become his surrogate one and we are in regular contact with them. They taught Mike all about Italian food, invited him to their beach house, showed him Roman culture and how regular people live there. One of his favorite experiences was helping the dad collect mineral water at a public fountain and making fresh tortellini in the apartment. Rome and this family made a mark on Mike that will never fade.

Interests

We're always interested in learning about culture, Mike in particular. If you've got new experiences to share, he's got a thousand questions to keep you talking. Traveling is an obvious interest; we tend to like switching between beach vacations and interesting ones. The typical beach vaca is so inviting when you're dealing with three little ones day in and day out... the sea breeze, a pina colada in hand, a nap, that's about all one needs. Mike dreams of cycling Europe's greatest climbs, doing the Tour d' Afrique, cycling the Continental Divide, leading backpacking trips through the Rocky mountains, teaching the kids to explore all of life's possibilities. Becky's interests include board games, long conversations, helping people reach their full potential, laughing and joking, and BBC dramas.

• arts
• culture
• books
• photography
• beauty
• dining
• italian food
• cooking
• beer
• drinking
• clubbing
• movies
• board games
• tv
• traveling
• juggling
• music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• divinity
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Mike: [Movies] Big Lebowski, The 300, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Clue, Inception, Airplane, The Usual Suspects, O Brother Where Art Thou, School of Rock, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Untouchables, any James Bond, Shindler's List, The Terminal, Catch me if you can (any thing Tom Hanks did, like ever).
Mike: [Books] Lord of the Rings (tolkein), The Fan Man (kotzwinkle), Narnia series (Lewis), The Long Earth, Lord of the Flies, Douglas Adams stuff, Francis Schaeffer, Sherlock Holmes stuff, ...
Mike: [Music] Really eclectic here... I like everything from bluegrass to punk. Favorite bands include Matisyahu, Stavesacre, Zepplin, Rich Mullins, Liz Vice, the crooners, Polarite, Tess Wiley, The Walking Tree, Misterwives, Pomplamoose, Split Lip Rayfield, Over The Rhine... on and on and on.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I (Mike) married the most amazing, most beautiful, most colorful, most thoughtful, most endearing, most honest and most passionate woman on the planet.

Teach, Learn, Share

Programming, Life coaching, Cooking, Backpacking, Parenting, Discuss religious perspectives, ideas, theology and effects on society; Play games (Settlers, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly, various card games... sheepshead anyone?); Movies.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We have a Queen bed and pillows with fresh sheets, towels in a guest room, with your own bathroom and shower, TV, wifi. We'll give you meals and make you feel very welcome.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States