Updated on Nov. 11th:

I believe in the power of art to uplift people and communities and I am traveling to gain more insight.

Upon graduating college in 2013 I traveled for 13 months on a Watson Fellowship to study masculinity as it manifests in art and cultures around the globe. I met and worked with a ton of artists, taught/lectured from Ghana to Holland, made it into a publication, and also lived next door to Osaka castle for several months where I fell in love and went for a lot of 4am runs around the moat. Afterward, and after a couple years of finding the corporate life fruitful but ultimately unfulfilling, I decided to continue traveling. First the Yucatan for four months, then France for a summer to organize a youth camp (cooking, museums, community service) and finally traversed the US: from VT through the Midwest to Seattle, down to San Diego and currently making my way toward AZ...

At the end of the day, I love connecting with people, exploring nature / interesting spaces, making art and embracing the unexpected.

Also, chess. :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I believe in building safe environments, love conversation and look forward to hosting.

It is also a great time to connect as being skeptical of our neighbors is a real phenomenon. Sometimes all we ought to do is say hello more often and share baked goods.

I have also used:
Airbnb : USA, France, UK, Portugal, Spain, Holland
Homestaybooking : Ghana
Hostels: Morocco, Mexico

Interests

I'd deeply appreciate if you put "Draw Man" in your message to show you've read this whether or not the offer works out. It would make accepting awesome and declining warm and bareble :)

• dancing
• meditation
• chess
• visual arts
• storytelling
• conversation
• museums
• audiobooks
• nature walks

Music, Movies, and Books

Recently read:
Trevor Noah's Born a Crime
Crazy Rich Asians book 1
The Stormlight Archives Trilogy
The Reckoners Trilogy
King Kong Theory
Watership Down
The Kite Runner
Invisible Man
The Castle
Song of Ice and Fire (book + audiobooks are bomb)
The Orphan Master's Son
The Image of Black in Wastern Art Collection (these are beautifully illustrated tomes)
The Art Forger
Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man
Pip Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities
The Heart of Darkness
King Leopold's Ghost
The Poisonwood Bible
Tom Jones is actually pretty cool...
..... Oh, how I love the smell of books.

Movies: (honestly wish I had more time to watch movies...)
Castaway on the Moon
Summer Wars (2007)-animated
Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall
Old Boy Trilogy
Basically every one of the top 100 Korean Films of all time...
Also, debates and panel discussions on Youtube..

Music:
Musiq Soulchild, Nas, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Bill Withers, Daley, Childish Gambino, Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men, A$AP crew, Tupac, FKA Twigs, Drake, Lil Wayne, Ceelo Gren/Gnarls Barkley...and the list goes on.
Always down to share my library.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wading into a cenote at night in the pitch black. Getting pooped on by a bat (glowing green poop by the way.) When we returned in the morning, it was the most spectacular, vibrantly colored little swimming hole I had ever seen.

Also, what I'm doing NOW! :)

Teach, Learn, Share

Stories and art nerdery

What I Can Share with Hosts

Conversation
Quietude
Visual poetry
Well prepared meal

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Egypt, Ghana, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Japan, United States