CURRENT MISSION

To squeeze the juice out of life by living, laughing, traveling, and fixing broken things.

ABOUT ME

I'm an outgoing person who tends to get along with just about everyone.

See all the other stuff in the other sections.

PHILOSOPHY

My karma ran over my dogma. At least most of the time. There is always something to learn. I'd rather wear out than rust out.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm hoping to meet people and (I'll be honest) have a free place to stay. People have been very generous with me in my travels, particularly by bicycle. As soon as I try this out on the surfing end, I want to open my couch too (this was my wife's stipulation).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

With couchsurfing.com I'm a newbie (Dec 09). In 25 years of traveling, I've surfed couches on a transcontinental US bike trip, a 7-month solo bike trip in Argentina and Chile, and a 3-month bike and hitchhiking trip in Eastern Europe. In East Germany, for example, out of 9 nights in that country (just after it became part of W. Germany again in 1990), 5 nights people invited me into their houses! Since then, I've invited travelers to stay with me on multiple occasions, following the "it's a river" philosophy: I may not be able to pay YOU back, but I can pass the goodwill and good karma on to someone else by helping them out.

Interests

Rock climbing, hiking, camping, house projects/remodeling. I'm interested in science and history, and lots of different kinds of music including Rock Latino, especially from Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. I've done several long (multi-month) cycle tours so I'd love to connect with cycle tourists.

• pets
• drinking
• traveling
• socializing
• origami
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• rock climbing
• history
• science
• hitchhiking
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Favorite book: Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Current favorite nonfic: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

Music: Austin, TX live music; Singer/Songwriter; Classic Rock especially some obscure classics like Elf and Spirit; Latin Rock -- Fito Paez, Charly Garcia, Carlos Vives, Juanes, Cafe Tacvba, Mana.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

As a kid/adolescent I wanted to bicycle across the U.S., have a pet monkey, and build a tree house. I did the bike trip in 1983, had 2 pet monkeys when I lived in Bolivia, and built a tree house 21 feet off the ground just a couple of years ago, while in my 40s! I've been pretty darn lucky to have had these opportunities.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love learning and I love teaching. I know some great knots I can teach you, practical ones, like the trucker's hitch for tying stuff down really tight to the roof of your car.

I am pretty good at homeowner stuff, fixing and adjusting things.

I can show you how to make an inflatable origami paper ball or a paper cup you can drink out of.

I know some great stretches.

What do a want to learn? - About you! And what you're passionate and curious about!