Hello!

Cassie just moved to Seattle and I'm here just helping out for a month. We just finished a year travelling around the world together. We did 3 months in Patagonia first, then India, China, Central Asia, Georgia, Turkey, then Europe from Turin to Bari through the Balkans to Budapest. Before that, Cassie was living in Tokyo and I was a digital nomad for a few years.

This profile used to be just for Jesse, and everything below here is his old profile. Most of my trips have been with Cassie though, so it's still mostly accurate.
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I travel a lot and like to meet people. I've been travelling without working since April 2024, and before that I was a digital nomad since 2020. I grew up in Texas, but my first memories are actually in China and Mexico. Every year we'd visit my mom's family in Beijing and travel with them to Yunnan or Xi'an or Shanghai. With my dad's family in New Orleans we'd take road trips through Mexico every year.

I really really love mountains and do lots of hiking. My favorite trips have been Patagonia, Xinjiang, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the PNW, and the Colombian Andes.
I also scuba dive whenever I can.
I'll always try a new food once, as long as it's not endangered or something. I guarantee you I've eaten something that you haven't before.
I am not much of a party person. I prefer chill places and talking to people. Though I try to always expand my comfort zone too.

I spent about a year each in China, Japan, Mexico, and Colombia, and about 4 months each in Brazil, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I don't have a goal to travel to x number of countries or anything like that. I just want to understand how the world works.

When hosting, I just really like sharing. I like sharing the places that I know and like, and like helping others have nice experiences like I've had. Or avoiding bad experiences that I've had.
I always have local friends that I share as well. You're always invited to everything that we do together.
I also hope to make friends that I can then visit later somewhere else in the world.

Interests

• gardening
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• scuba diving
• mountains
• forests
• bonfires
• cactus
• senderismo
• montañas
• hacer senderismo

Music, Movies, and Books

All my spotify playlists are public https://open.spotify.com/user/pjhell42
I make a new playlist for every phase in my travels

Some of my favorite movies and animes are:
Cowboy Bebop
Dan da Dan
Dorehedoro
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
Into the Spiderverse
Odd Taxi
and most films by Miyazaki

I don't read much; I prefer talking to different people. I listen to podcasts though, my favorites being
Revolutions
The History of Rome
The History of China
Planet Money
Gastropod

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent 3 months in Patagonia with my best friend, driving south from Santiago until Ushuaia and back north through Argentina. We hiked a total of 1,030 km with 48 km of elevation gain. We got 3 flat tires, ate 193 empanadas and 14 kg of nuts. We spent a night in a town that was destroyed by a forest fire an hour after we left. We saw the ice cave in Ushuaia a week before it collapsed. Once we had to cancel a hike because of a plague of poisonous caterpillars.

I also had road trips
- around Xinjiang from Urumqi through Nalati to Kuche to Turpan
- in Himachal Pradesh from Chandigarh to Spiti Valley
- in Tibet from Lhasa to Shangri-La
- in Kazakhstan, Almaty to Charyn Canyon and Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake
- in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek to Ak Suu and around Issyk Kul

I scuba dived with sea lion pups in La Paz, Mexico, and saw humpback whales breaching just 200 meters away from the boat.

I saw the northern lights near Seattle
I went to Holi in Vrindavan and Mathura, Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca, Mardi Gras in New Orleans (several times, but only the family friendly one in the suburbs), and Thaipusam at Batu Caves
I've been to Angkor Wat, Samarkand, the Potala Palace, Fujian Tulou, Chichen Itza, the Great Wall, Meteora, the Hagia Sofia, Calakmul, Petra, Acoma Pueblo, and summited Mt. Fuji.
I harvested uni (sea urchin) and mussels in tidepools on the California coast.

I sailed with my family on my grandfather's sailboat from New Orleans to Galveston for several weeks, catching most of our food ourselves each day.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Mostly I like spending time with the host, maybe exploring the surroundings together, trying the local food, and learning about the local life and culture. I'd be happy to buy you dinner or other meals or at least help pay for groceries.

I have lots of stories, recommendations, suggestions, and contacts around the world that I can share. And of course, if I'm ever hosting somewhere else in the world you'll have a place to stay as well :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Faroe Islands, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, China, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, United States