Hey there -- My name is Chris and I am 28 years old. I grew up in Brecksville, Ohio, a suburb of the grand city of Cleveland. I've lived in a variety of different places: studied at a small liberal arts school in Western New York, trained as a TEFL-certified English Teacher in Costa Rica, taught English workshops throughout Slovakia, & worked full-time for a tour operator in the beautiful city of Burlington, Vermont.

Most recently, my wife, Lisa, and I spent 8 months working in New Zealand in the heart of Fiordland National Park at an eco-lodge. Since leaving this position in June, we have been traveling through New Zealand and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar & Thailand) before returning to the States.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have been incredibly fortunate throughout my life to travel all over the world; my parents valued travel as an educational tool and made sure to share that same value with their children. I have traveled in many different forms: alone, in a group, with family, with friends, for pleasure, for partying, for school, etc. Over the years, I have come to understand that the most worth-while travel experiences you can have involve really getting to the heart of a place by way of the people who live there.

For me, Couchsurfing seems to be a genuine way to connect people with similar ideals and to allow them to share the best things about their homes and their day-to-day lives.

Interests

When I'm not traveling, I like spending quality time with good friends, adventuring in the outdoors, riding my bicycle, drinking good beer, listening to podcasts, reading good fiction, exploring all types of music & developing odd, creative projects. I am by no means an amazing chef, but I do love to cook and to experiment in the kitchen with different recipes and ingredients. Lately, I have been developing a stand-up comedy routine that may or may not ever get used on a stage...either way is OK with me.

I don't own a dog, but in most instances I would stop to say hello to one.

• dogs
• cooking
• cheese
• traveling
• podcasts
• music
• live music
• hiking
• history
• craft beer
• cuisine
• comedy
• bicycling
• local history
• mustard

Music, Movies, and Books

Some of these are all-time favorites, others are things I been exploring and enjoying in the last few months:

Music:
- Simon & Garfunkel
- Childish Gambino
- Loretta Lynn
- Pink Floyd
- Mac DeMarco
- Johnny Cash
- Pearl Jam
- Screaming Trees
- Kendrick Lamar
- Phosphorescent
- The Tallest Man on Earth

Movies:
- Dead Poet's Society
- The Godfather I & II
- Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Shining
- Toy Story

Books:
- Sherlock Holmes (short stories & novels)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Lord of the Flies
- Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Harry Potter
- Lolita
- And Then There Were None
- Welcome to the Monkey House
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While living in New Zealand, I teamed up with two Englishmen to write, record & produce an amateur rap song. It started out as a joke, but then evolved into something different entirely...

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Peru, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, New Zealand, Slovakia, United States