I’m a gregarious optimist living in Seattle with dual USA / EU (Italian) citizenship that enjoys meeting people from all around the world and learning new things about their culture (this is my second Couchsurfing account after the first from 2009 was deleted). Originally from Alaska, moved to Hawaii for college, then on to San Diego and now Seattle where I do construction management work. Always down to check out restaurants, museums, concerts, and have a couple of laughs over (at least a few) drinks.

Find me on Instagram: @joenerlfi

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because it’s magical - to meet and make friends with people from around the world, give them a great local experience, and hopefully visit them in their home countries.

Interests

• street art
• photography
• music festivals
• backpacking
• snowboarding
• street food
• book collecting
• museums and exhibitions
• barhopping
• fashion styling

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Tarantino, Woody Allen, mafia movies, nature documentaries, A24 flicks, and all the 80’s movies 🎥 anything that makes you question reality or see the world differently.

Music: Tom Waits, Grateful Dead, Flaming Lips, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Manu Chao, Peter Tosh, Bob Dylan, Deftones, 90’s skate punk - I also make my own neo-folk style music.

Books: The Power of One, Into The Wild, IQ84, Still Life With Woodpecker, Jitterbug Perfume, Shantaram, Thinking Fast And Slow, Breakfast of Champions, Stumbling On Happiness, The Sparrow, Ishmael, The Righteous Mind, Kafka On The Shore, Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the Tao of Pooh - and many more. I collect books, so if you have any amazing recommendations, I would love to hear them.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Rode a motorcycle through south + eastern Africa, where I learned about and subsequently volunteered with Baisikeli, a charity that takes stolen bikes from Denmark and rebuilds them for locals in Mozambique.

Snorkeled with manta rays at night in Hawaii - incredible!

Survived traveling (and partying) for six months in South America in my early 20’s.

Explored the Balkans and the Caucuses on a road trip with one of my best friends and saw a lot of old Soviet architecture – I’m a building enthusiast so it really was a dream come true.

Backpacked for five years on and off to over 80 countries; I’m settled down now in Seattle and try to go international for 6-7 weeks per year whenever I can.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you to snowboard and / or play guitar (not simultaneously, but I suppose that could also be done) 🎸 I have some good off the beaten path travel suggestions for certain parts of the world, even though most all of them are likely on Google Maps now 😂 also, I can help you navigate Seattle easily and can show you some cool neighborhoods that might not be in guidebooks or typical visitor/tourist websites.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My place is in a very relaxed West Seattle area on a major street with bus access 45 minutes to the airport and 15 minutes to downtown Seattle. Washer, dryer, WiFi, private bedroom! Piano available for playing if you can 😉 large book collection to satiate your curiosity.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Panama, United States