Currently based in Manizales, Colombia 🇨🇴

What I wrote on my profile over ten years ago continues to be true: try to check my privilege every day, deconstruct the ego, collaborate as much as possible, build community, grow, tell stories, learn from my mistakes, love myself, love others.

I was born and raised in Brunswick, Maine, a large coastal town where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. Studied journalism and international relations at American University in Washington, D.C.

I love drawing, watercolor painting, collaging, editing artwork on my tablet. Doodling is definitely my oldest and favorite hobby. I save everything I draw and recycle them later on. When I'm not writing or making artwork, I'm probably out walking with my very loveable Australian cattle dog, running, biking, swimming, going for a hike along the Mediterranean.

If I were to have a "dream job," it would be to write for National Geographic. Other aspirations include working for BBC News, Al Jazeera, National Public Radio, Lonely Planet, VICE Magazine, Foreign Affairs, etc. Whether shooting on location as a cameraman, hosting a segment, or writing scripts, I want to do it all!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Back in the day, I would say that Couchsurfing is bliss. In many ways, this is still true, although it really has changed over time. My impression is that people view this website simply as a platform to find free places to stay. This truly defeats the purpose of connecting with your hosts and immersing yourself in their reality, someway, somehow. Every host is different.

At least for me, I use Couchsurfing in hopes of feeling like a local wherever I may be. I personally love traveling but I dislike tourism. I don't like hyper-consumerism, pre-planned itineraries, or fluorescent lighting. I would much rather meet a local and be swept away by their culture. In the process, maybe both the host and the traveler can develop their language skills, share their perspective of history, and hopefully share some great meals together. When I travel on Couchsurfing, I hope to make connections with either the person or place and if I'm oh so lucky, to be welcomed into their world as a newcomer.

When I host, I like to feel as though I'm a tourist in my own city. I used to host Couchsurfers at my former apartment in Portland, Maine. I must have been 21 at the time and loved the sensation of showing people around my "home city." I started to appreciate what Portland represented. Somehow everything felt new again once another Couchsurfer came along. It also became so natural to introduce guests to my group of friends. Spontaneous people with stories to share from their corner of the world. I hope to relive these types of experiences again with Couchsurfing.

Interests

final cut pro, art, surrealism, psychedelic art, animation, writing, documentary films, traveling, culture, geography, learning, photography, history, cities, the 60s, Pandas, post-colonial studies, camping, Greyhounds, nature, reading, people, yurts, tribes, Outward Bound, trail work, activism, and Alternative Education

• arts
• writing
• photography
• documentaries
• education
• news
• reading
• drawing
• camping
• animation
• communications
• teaching
• geography
• history
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Baraka is my favorite movie. Really into documentaries like the Qatsi Trilogy, Born into Brothels, The Eternal Children, Unreported World, and Michael Palin's New Europe. For music, I'm keen on obscure electronic darkwave 80s-sounding acts like Sixth June, Lebanon Hanover, Boy Harsher, She Past Away, Molchat Doma, Sally Dige, Kaelan Mikla, Selofan, Twin Tribes, TR/ST, Minuit Machine, etc. Interpol, Beach House, Men I Trust, Fever Ray, SBTRKT, Hercules and Love Affair, Mr. Twin Sister, and other indie music are what I enjoy most. Siddhartha, Gertrude, Steppenwolf, Journey to the East, The Good Earth, and O' Pioneers! are some books that I've thoroughly read. Hermann Hesse is by far my favorite author. Everybody should read The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Christiana was extraordinary, tripping at the Aztec pyramids, zip lining across the cloud rainforest in Mindo, porros on Rapa Nui, chewing out the American embassy in Guatemala City.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like to rant about Haitian vodoun.

What I Can Share with Hosts

some pretty nifty drawing games!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, United States

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