Hi!

I travel a lot and like to meet people. I've learned a lot from talking to people from different backgrounds, so I try to meet as many people as I can. I like hosting people too, and being hosted, to help out and hang out and share meals and make new friends.

If you want to hang out then I don't care what your profile says. I learn the most when I judge the least, so I'll always meet you and hear what you have to say. Let's go get a coffee or grab a beer or take a walk.

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'm pretty quiet. I prefer places where you can easily hear someone at least two seats down.
I also scuba dive whenever I can.

I've been travelling for a long time. I spent about a year each in China, Japan, Mexico, and Colombia, and about 3 months each in Brazil, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, and South Korea.

If you're curious, my mom is from Beijing and my dad from New Orleans. I grew up Dallas, but spent all summers and holidays between China, Louisiana, and Mexico. After uni I lived in San Francisco for a few years, but I started travelling full time during covid. I haven't had a job since April 2024.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I don't have a goal to travel to x number of countries or anything like that. I don't care about political boundaries. 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. 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

Some of my favorite movies and animes are:
Cowboy Bebop
Dan de 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
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.
After that we kept travelling for the next 9 months. We did a month in India, including Holi, then went Shanghai and went west from there to Europe.

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
- All along the American west coast, from SF down to LA, across to Yosemite, Sequoia, Lake Tahoe, and up the coast past Mt Shasta, Crater Lake, Bend Oregon, Mt Hood, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, the North Cascades, to Vancouver, and up to Whistler
- Around the American southwest, from Phoenix to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Vegas
- in Kazakhstan, Almaty to Charyn Canyon and Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake
- in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek to Karakul 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've also dived in Belize, the Mayan Riviera, Oaxaca, las Islas Rosarias of Colombia, the kelp forests of Monterey California, Cabo Frio in Brazil, the Galapagos, Koh Tao, the Phillipines (Mactan, Moalboal, and Coron), and the Izu peninsula in Japan

I saw the northern lights over Lake Crescent near Seattle
I went to Holi in Vrindavan and Mathura (I actually really don't recommend this), 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 saw the sun set over a sea of clouds in Hehuanshan, Taiwan, and Mt. Tamalpais in California, and Huangshan, China
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 went on a safari in Kenya at the Masai Mara
I harvested uni (sea urchin) and mussels in tidepools on the California coast and had a garden with hundreds of plants. I grew my own sweet potatoes, chilies, tomatoes, carrots, green onion, peanuts, and herbs.

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. One day the tide was going out a wide shallow lagoon and we just had to walk around with a net to catch a dozen crabs for the night. One day we found a shipwreck in a shallow channel between two small islands. When we snorkeled there we saw hundreds of fish, and so that day we spearfished a bit for dinner. We'd hang lines off the back of the boat during the day to catch fish without any effort. We'd try some of it raw like sushi and grill the rest for lunch.

I also went to a few all night raves in Colombia

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, 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