Hi, my name’s JJ.

Born to French parents in Washington DC, I now call Philadelphia home.

I've lived on this block since 2005 with an assorted of fantastic housemates over the years. I've become the 'block captain', which basically means that I help organize block parties, street cleanups, and help connect new neighbors to community resources.

My background is in photography, which has evolved towards practices in public art & community organizing. I'm also now working as a licensed massage therapist.

Two of my favorite and biggest personal projects intersect in real space:

If you pass by PHL International Airport on I-95 or regional rail, you'll see my 85,000 sq ft How Philly Moves mural on the side of the airport parking garages ( http://www.HowPhillyMoves.org ) – It was named one of the best public art projects in the country by Americans for the Arts and I'm pretty darn proud of it and grateful for all the amazing folks that had a hand in helping bring it to fruition.

The airport is also right on the city's edge, and thus part of my other biggest project which is recurring pilgrimage around Philadelphia's perimeter. Walk Around Philadelphia is definitely an unconventional tour of the city (and at ~100 miles, will take you a while, but can be done in segments) – I've been inviting folk into this experience since 2016. More info at https://www.WalkAroundPhiladelphia.org

Those are my city-wide pursuits, but I also really love the hyper-local, hence my organizing in my community. I'd be delighted for you to discover a few of the sweet things that our neighborhood & city have to offer.

Also in case of interest: I've been hosting a regular 'Francais et Fromage' conversation group for Francophones, and a neighbor has started a Spanish one. (Si vous parlez français vous êtes les bienvenus a passer nous rejoindre pour bavarder ensemble meme si vous avez un autre logement. C'est deux fois par mois, en alternant entre Mardi et Jeudi) 🇫🇷

More about me at https://www.jjtiziou.net.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

We've been putting people up in our little guest room for quite a while now… so many people have welcomed me during my travels that it's good to be able to return the favor.

I've done lots of traveling and hosting people, but not a ton through this network. When and how much I can host depends a lot on the season and what's going on w/ my housemates.

兴趣

I'm generally interested in humans, and movement.
Sometimes I'm trying to cultivate stillness.

I'm also interested in extricating from the world of corporate advertising algorithm controlled social media – so if you're one of those CS folks that likes to use WhatsApp, I'd love to invite you to consider moving your conversations over to Signal, one thread at a time. It basically does the exact same things *except* for using your data to enrich the zuckerberg / meta / facecrook / instagrump empire. Try it out: https://signal.org –

Similarly, I'd much rather check out your wordpress site than your instagram profile :)

For other inspirations to help extricate from the clutches of corporate technology overlords, I'd recommend you check out my former neighbor Derek's story here:

https://otherworldscatalog.substack.com/p/how-i-disconnected-from-tech-in-2025

• cats
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• yoga
• massage therapy
• walking
• traveling
• music
• live music
• teaching
• community living
• walking around

音乐、电影和书籍

I particularly love live music... pre-pandemic, I hosted house concerts fairly regularly... and there's so many wonderfully talented musicians in my neighborhood.

I'm interested in interfaith work, and have accumulated a small library of spiritual texts from many traditions... – if you stay with us, you'll have plenty of interesting reading at your disposal.

A couple of books that I love to share with folks include:

Ross Gay – The Book of Delights
Krista Tippett – Becoming Wise
Pádraig Ó. Tuama – Poetry Unbound: 50 poems to open your world
Jaron Lanier – 10 Arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now.
Loretta Ross – Calling In: how to start making change with those you'd rather cancel
Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching
Ursual K. Le Guinn – A Wizard of Earthsea (all 6 books) & Catwings trilogy & Tao Ta Ching paraphrasing
Joan Halifax – Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Walked the entire perimeter of Philadelphia 17 times (as of 2026) and worked to build a wild civic pilgrimage experience for the city:

https://www.WalkAroundPhiladelphia.org

教，学，和分享

I have a magic guest pass to Studio 34 (http://www.studio34yoga.com) which is two blocks south of our house - and I'm happy to take travelers to free classes there.

As a block captain and local community organizer, I love to brainstorm hyper-local community organizing strategies, ways to get to know your neighbors and facilitate small village vibes within a larger city. The "how to build community" poster from the Syracuse Cultural Workers is a great place to start: https://syracuseculturalworkers.com/products/poster-how-to-build-community

With some anatomy knowledge from a yoga teacher training and massage therapy school, I can teach you some stretches & self-massage techniques that might serve you, especially if you’ve been spending lots of time in planes, busses and trains. (I do not offer my guests massages however, as there’s both some professional and couchsurfing boundaries there.) – more info on that practice at https://www.WestPhillyMassage.com

From my past life as a photographer, I enjoy teaching people how to better use their cameras- (most of it is about space and light and composition and settings, not about any particular equipment needs) – you can dig into some of that older work at https://www.jjtiziou.net

If you're one of those CS folks that likes to use WhatsApp, I'd love to invite you to consider moving your conversations over to Signal, one thread at a time. It basically does the exact same things *except* for using your data to enrich the zuckerberg / meta / facecrook / instagrump empire. Try it out: https://signal.org

I love learning a bit of whatever my guests are excited to share...

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

Photography / digital imaging skills, yoga & self-massage techniques,

Medium cooking skills, and a love of doing dishes and helping out however is needed

I've also completed a yoga teacher training program and am a licensed massage therapist, and am happy to help introduce others to stretches or self-massage techniques to help address aches, pains and body issues. (I do not offer hosts massages however, as there’s both some professional and couchsurfing boundaries there.) – more info on that practice at https://www.WestPhillyMassage.com

If you're one of those CS folks that likes to use WhatsApp, I'd love to invite you to consider moving your conversations over to Signal, one thread at a time. It basically does the exact same things *except* for using your data to enrich the zuckerberg / meta / facecrook / instagrump empire. Try it out: https://signal.org

我游览过的国家

Armenia, Benin, Canada, Dominican Republic, England, France, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo

我居住过的国家

United States