CURRENT MISSION

To get so lost that I no longer recognize even the air I'm breathing. Then try to find my way back home.

ABOUT ME

I am finally at the point where I am ready to leave behind the notion of a career, house, family etc. I'm just now about to begin some kind of transient lifestyle. Exactly what shape that will take, or how long it will last, I don't know. But I do know that if I stay in any one place for too long, I get bored, and inertia takes over. It's too easy to develop a routine and sleep-walk through life. During my first solo adventure, I quickly realized that one of the things I love about travel is the survival aspect. Most of your thoughts are directed towards finding food, shelter and a method of travel. It distills life down to its essence. I find it very invigorating. For now, the plan is to alternate between WWOOFing, couch surfing and casual paid labour, probably limiting my stay in any one town (not to be confused with "one bed") to a maximum of about 3 months or so. I only discovered WWOOFing last fall and loved the experience. It has the same potential for meeting people that I hope to get from couch surfing. Everyone in life is a teacher.

PHILOSOPHY

There are no bad experiences - just good stories.
Everyone has the capacity to teach, so long as I have the capacity to learn.
To hope for something is to fear it's absence. Hope does not conquer fear - it begets it. One must conquer hope as one would, fear.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Not much, officially. So far I've met some fellow CSers in Vancouver as well as traveling with Ivan (Argentina) from Vancouver to Flagstaff, AZ. Unofficially, I've stayed with people during my travels, and have put up friends, but have only recently discovered this site. At this point, all I can say is that I hope to meet some interesting people and share whatever I am able. I'm also spreading the word wherever I go, to whomever might listen.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I don't have a lot of experience. Years ago I was hitching with a friend from Switzerland to Germany and was picked up by a fellow who put us up for about a week in his family-run hotel. I stayed with a connection in Japan for a couple of months about 8 years ago, then with a girl I met there for about a week or so. I stayed with some people for about a week in Barcelona, as well as with various people across Canada. As for hosting, I'm ashamed to admit that, beyond friends and acquaintances, I haven't had any experiences. Something I'll have to rectify in the future, whenever I find myself in the position to do so.

Interests

Simply put - the world, and everything/everyone in it. Specifically, music, film, art, hiking, biking, traveling, photography, food, all of nature.

• arts
• singing
• photography
• perfumes
• dining
• running
• traveling
• socializing
• survival
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - Lost in Translation; The Straight Story; The Stunt Man; Rear Window; Harvey; Koyaanisqatsi; Alien; The Conversation; Apocalypse Now and many more

Music - Thelonious Monk; John Coltrane; Miles Davis; Louis Armstrong; Johnny Cash; David Bowie; The Beatles; Tom Waits; Metallica; Beethoven; Mozart; Wagner and many more

Books - I don't do a lot of reading and when I do it's non-fiction. The last two books I read were "How to Expand Love" by the Dalai Lama and "Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I was in Japan having dinner in a seaside restaurant with a girl I'd recently met. A bright orange sun was setting behind a peninsula of indigo trees. The girl excused herself to go to the washroom and, during the two minutes she was gone, Louis Armstrong was singing "What a Wonderful World" on the stereo. Sometimes the mundane can be extraordinary.

visited 9 states (69.2%)Create your own visited map of Canada

visited 14 states (28%)Create your own visited map of The United States

visited 13 states (5.77%)Create your own visited map of The World

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cuba, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France