CURRENT MISSION

To start my own non profit doing design build projects for other non profits and NGO's around the world. To include artwork that explains the mission of the organization that is integrated into their building or landscape. Hoping to connect with favorite organizations of friends that they have supported and get them to join me at the end and therfor save them from boring retirements.
ABOUT ME

I am gregarious and can talk to anyone comfortably. Curious, friendly, adventurous, articulate, and hard working. Possibly stubborn about beliefs dear to me. A bit too talkative at times but easily tempered by a comment as to your mood and tolerance.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in larger and smaller version of friendship. Both as a practicing aethiest Quaker (religious Society of Friends) and as an economic model. I try to put my effort into developing or maintaining a friendship at all levels of activity. I also beleive in doing no harm and leaving any place or situation better than I found it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCH SURFING EXPERIENCE

I am always trying to economize to be able to put money into projects and visits with my daughters. For the past 5 years I have been doing work trades with friends. I stay at their home and do projects large and small. From tile floors, to reroofs to new gardens. we design and shop together, I do most of the construction myself. I become a part of the daily routine of the family for any where from a week to several months. I also do alot of Craigslist rideshares, buses and trains for traveling, still hitch hike and stay in hostels and camp.

Interests

I believe in the Protestant work ethic but that means I like to be engaged and do no harm in the doing. I travel, volunteer, spend as much time as possible finding balance between exercising and expanding my mind, sharing what I know, eating for fuel, fun and nutrition, exercising in ways that are both athletic and produce something, and getting enough rest and meditation so that I feel a balance between feeling good and tired at the end of as many days as possible enjoying the world and hoping to wake up the next a bit more rested, experienced and fit. I moved to Seattle for the water so I could paddle and sail.

• architecture
• design
• exercise
• modeling
• meditation
• shopping
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• camping
• surfing
• sailing
• law
• tourism
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

The best of almost any genre but somehow bluegrass still sends chills down my spine and tears down my face most often. I like my music and food to tell me where I am on the planet I am. Always excited to be surprised by something new. Favorite all time movies are The Razors Edge, Wings of Desire, Lonesome Dove and Unbearable Lightness of Being. I lean toward non fiction books. I travel through my senses so any media that transports me I love.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just one? Yeah right.......Watching my daughters enter the world, Havasu Falls under a full moon, A flock of Canadian geese flapping their wings to break the stillness at sunrise in the Boundry Waters National Park, Hearing the 1812 overture by the Boston Pops on the 4th of July with the whole city of Boston in synch so that the cannons are real going off on bridges along the Charles and all the cities church bells ringing simultaneously. Spending a week intimately exploring every room of the Alhambra.

Teach, Learn, Share

I taught at the University of Colorado for eight years as an adjunct in architecture and planning and at Westwood College for design and AUTOCAD. I spent three summers as a camp counselor during my undergrad summers teaching frisbee and leading camping trips. I am a joiner and belong to multiple organizations that I now volunteer for to give back to. I was an Eagle Scout as a kid and did an Outward Bound course, both gave me a sense of confidence being out in the world.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I started a doctorate degree in resort and tourism design and cultural heritage tourism planning. I am a great resource for authenticity and economical experiences. I have been a tour guide. My new apartment is a clean, beautiful well situated sanctuary in the city. We have a roof top deck, common area rooms, and are 4 blocks from Lake Union with nearby options for kayaking, canoeing and sailing and the Birke Gilman trail for cycling. Only 2 blocks from four bus stops. Express buses can get you to the heart of downtown in under 10 minutes. I am about a mile or two between UW, Seattle, Cornish and Seattle Pacific Universities.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Montenegro, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey