UPDATE MAY 2025:
Embarking on a month-long European trip and meeting up with some friends along the way. It's not all free time vacationing as I still have to work remotely. So good wifi is highly appreciated! Still, I am looking forward to meet and hang out with hosts and new people on "hangouts" when possible.

CURRENT MISSION

Don't have a mission per se. Just a passion for travel and getting to know the world when I get the chance.
That, and secret world-conquering megalomaniac delusions of grandeur. Hard to tell from my photos, I know. 🙂

Back In late 2019 I had embarked on an extended digital nomad life that was dramatically cut short due to the covid-19 pandemic breakout. Since then, my job has changed, and altho I can still work remotely at times, it is no long as flexible as it once was. If you care to read through my brief adventure, you can check it out at https://jreif.github.io/coddiwomple/

ABOUT ME

Extrovertable introvert. Jack of all trades, master of none.

PHILOSOPHY

Everything is relative and circumstantial. Everything.
I'm deep like that...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Trying to get back on the CS saddle after a long lull. Pre-pandemic I used to be an avid host for a while albeit not as many hosting me (what gives??). Hostels are usually fun to meet multitude of people, but I now prefer to try meeting locals directly and having more personal in-depth experiences. I do need some time alone here and there, so I just mix it up as I go.

Hosting is a way to still feel connected to the rest of the world while I am not traveling myself. So its like non-traveling-travel in a way. You know what I mean...

My schedule is often quite irregular so I'm unpredictably available. Thus, can rarely entertain requests too far in advance (more than 2-3 weeks) as I will not know what my plans are. So keep that in mind. Similarly, I'll entertain very last minute requests when possible, but less likely to accept. Still, feel free to ask; you never know... Naturally, I reject more people than I accept since I can't host THAT often and I do get A LOT of requests (yeah, people think I'm pretty cool I guess). It will help you to craft a thoughtful request message over something generic as well as having a well filled out profile. NOTE: your chances of me hosting you drop significantly if all you are looking for is a free place to crash. I'm doing this for our mutual experience, not to save you money.

I will ignore/reject friend requests if we have not met in person yet.

I am not a big planner when I travel, I like to play it by ear, so my hosting requests may often be on short notice and I understand this may not work out for many hosts. But hoping some are as flexible as myself and want to meet a nice guy as myself. 🙂

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I already have couch surfed at many friends' houses and many others come stay at mine too. So CS is just a natural extension of that with the bonus of meeting yet more new people. I have been hosting many in my home but also hoping to get some more hosts to let me in their homes during my travels.

PS: for general clarification purposes due to some previous clunky interactions while traveling or hosting, I want to inform any reader that I am not a big drinker or partier, I may occasionally do some edibles but no hard drugs, I am single, straight, and don't partake in nudist lifestyle. You know, just trying to preempt awkward situations. 🙂

Interests

It's a long list. All the usual suspects: technology, music, philosophy, science, sports, reading, board games, painting, travel, eating food, cooking food, etc. I'm a bit of everything.
For sports I play volleyball, golf, soccer, tennis, bowling, amongst the most common. But I'll play pretty much anything. I can be a bit competitive but at a healthy level, hehe.
I play guitar in a band. I'm not super good, but decent enough to entertain friends at our shows.
Yet world travel and meeting new people is always up in the list of things I love to do. Oh, and I love visiting botanical gardens at most destinations; I have a thing for flowers.

• books
• cooking
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• guitar
• scuba diving
• skydiving
• sports
• soccer
• volleyball
• golf
• bowling
• crypto

Music, Movies, and Books

Lots of all of these... ask me!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I wake up every morning and BOOM... amazing happens. I can't help it. :)
But seriously, recurrent world traveling is probably on top of the list of most amazing things I do.
Oh, also people seem to love my guasacaca. Look it up. Happy to make you a batch.

Teach, Learn, Share

I used to coach volleyball so I wouldn't mind at all to teach you if you have any interest, altho that would rarely casually just happen on a short traveling visit I'd imagine...

I have been doing for a while a hobby of acrylic pour painting so when hosting I can show you what that is all about. Fun and relaxing experience.

While not particularly talented, I do play some guitar so I can also offer to teach some basics.

As a native Spanish speaker I can accommodate if you want to learn a few words or practice your Spanish.

Learning about people's every day lives in different cities is quite fascinating to me albeit sounding mundane. I am curious and like projecting and imagining how my life would be if I lived at each place I visited, or just having different professions. Best way to get that feeling is to live it vicariously through those I meet. I can always use the internet to learn about history and general destination information; but only through those who live locally can you get the "real" picture of what life elsewhere is like.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like to cook when not feeling lazy, so I'm happy to offer to prepare meals while sharing stories. Also more than happy to go out and share what the culinary world on the streets has to offer.

Talking about any topic at any lengths and depth is not outside my purview, so always enjoy diving into conversation with my hosts and/or guests. It is part of the fun of meeting new people and learning different perspectives.

Always happy to explore the town or destinations with hosts if they are up for it and enjoy the company, but can just do my own thing too. I understand as a host you can only see and do some local things so many times. :)

Also happy to offer reciprocal hosting if you were to visit Boston!

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Portugal, Saint Martin (French part), Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States, Venezuela