I'm an audio engineer/drummer/ and dreamer from the Pacific Northwest. Currently I'm driving across the country in my VW Bus with my girlfriend Lauryn.

Lauryn is a massage practitioner and Pilates instructor also from the greater NW area.

The two of us will be making our way slowly across the country to NYC, where we will then hop across the Atlantic to Senegal. After Senegal we'll head to Màlaga Spain, then another plane to Italy for a few week tour there. Finally, we'll fly back to our bus waiting for us on the east coast, where we will begin the leg home. It's going to be a good trip, at least we hope! If you want to hear more about, then you should have us stay with you 😄. We would also love to hear tales from your own life too!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My partner, Lauryn, and myself are currently on a 6-month journey that will take us from Bellingham, Washington to NYC via northern states in our 1978 VW Bus. After arriving in NYC, we'll be departing for Senegal, followed by Spain, then Italy. Our last leg will be a trek home across the southern states of the USA.

We are Couchsurfing for several reasons. We look forward to meeting all kinds of new people, and hopefully can hear stories of their lives and share stories from our own. Both Lauryn and I have spent the large majority of our lives living in the Pacific Northwest, and hope to get the chance to expand our knowledge of the beautiful country we inhabit.

Another large reason for Couchsurfing is that we want to save money to really help make our travels last longer! We have both been diligently saving money for this trip for the last 1-2 years, and to really accomplish the trip we've set out to experience, we'll need help from this wonderfully helpful community. We are lucky that we are travelling in basically a mobile home, and in a pinch can pull off into a parking lot somewhere for a night. But we would more so love to meet people in the communities we pass through, and know that we are welcome wherever we plant for the night!

Interests

Drumming, classical piano, playing our ukulele's, dancing, live shows, new adventures, biking, hiking, audio recording (we are learning how to interview people and produce stories), photography...

• dancing
• dining
• beer
• socializing
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• engineering
• adventure travel
• budget travel
• parks
• travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Oh geeze, what a long list we could write out here! Surely all this can be talked about in person :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Joel - I have biked naked and painted in the Fremont Solstice parade the last 4 years.

Lauryn - I was in the world chamionships for Dragonboat racing in 2005

Teach, Learn, Share

Both of us know how to play Ukulele (Lauryn plays a baritone, Joel plays a tenor) and would love to share/teach our songs (both original and covers) with you! We are very open to learning other songs to play as well, and would like to try and find more opportunities to jam with people and learn more about Music.

Joel is a professional ballroom dance instructor, and usually doesn't mind showing a curious individual or group a few moves in one of the swing, Latin, or smooth dances (i'm officially certified in 12 different dances)

Lauryn is a licensed massage therapist in Washington, as well as an excellent Pilates instructor, and loves any opportunity to trade body awareness knowledge.

We are both pitiful at French, but would love to learn more as we need to understand at least a little of the language to get by in Senegal!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Canada, Cayman Islands, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Philippines, Senegal, Spain