I was a traveler when I was younger, and spent most of the 90s uprooted before settling down to build a career as a database consultant. You can see I'm a real person with an actual career at http://www.kupietz.com.

As most of my work is remote nowadays, since July 2018, I've become one of those fabled "digital nomads" you may have heard about. I've spent my time since then driving around, visiting friends and relatives, camping, and hosteling, all the while maintaining an active career and serving my consulting clients daily from anywhere I can get a cell phone signal and/or find a nearby cafe to get wifi in. In between phone calls, I sometimes play on a guitar or my chalumeau (you're going to have to host me to find out what that is.)

I signed up for couchsurfing a long time ago, but as of this writing haven't actually used it yet, but was thinking about it today and figured, hey, might as well give it a shot!

I think most people I stay with (mostly friends and relatives, at this point) feel like it's an addition to their lives to have me around for a bit. I'm a very experienced houseguest, good at not imposing, very respectful of privacy and property, likely to surprise you (only if it seems situationally appropriate) by emptying the dishwasher before you get home from work, and fond of taking people out for a meal to show my gratitude for their hospitality, if they're interested.

BTW as you can see from my userpic, I suspect I'm older than many couchsurfer users, in terms of physical age. Don't be misled by external appearances. I wouldn't be on here if I didn't know how to have fun, or wasn't easygoing and flexible.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Part of the reason I'm traveling is because I enjoy new experiences and meeting people, and of course to hopefully save a few bucks by not having to pay for a hostel, hotel, or campsite every night.

Interests

• technology
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• camping
• road trips
• humor
• new experiences
• computer programming

Music, Movies, and Books

Music is highly eclectic. In the past week I've listened to Maurice Ravel's solo piano works, "Nerdcore Rising" by MC Frontalot, "Let My Children Hear Music" by Charles Mingus, "Damn." by Kendrick Lamar, and some Leon Russell late last night.

My taste in movies tend towards sci-fi or horror. Don't worry, I won't make you watch them. I like a good comedy too. I re-watched "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" a few weeks ago and remembered how much I love it.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just one? Jeez.

I've camped out on top of El Capitan in Yosemite, and woke up at 4:30 in the morning to watch the sun slowly come up over the Sierra Nevada. I walked all the way out on the nose, and it's so quiet and still up there, it's like being on the moon. Then, as the sun rose, a gentle breeze kicked in, the trees started rustling, bugs started humming and birds started singing. The whole place slowly came to life. It was pretty amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can tie my shoes faster than you, and I'll show you how to do it. Seriously. I amazed a 10-year-old girl with it a few months ago, and if you've ever tried to amaze a 10-year-old, you know how difficult that can be.

Also, I am a punctuation geek, and I can tell you the difference between a hyphen, an en-dash, and an em-dash, and when you should use only 1 space after a period instead of two. Ordinarily I wouldn't think to mention that, but it got a lot of traction on my OkCupid profile, so, might as well give it a shot here.

What I Can Share with Hosts

In addition to the above tricks, I can help you with your computer problems. I'm a Mac expert, and a fairly knowledgeable Windows user, although less of an expert on that. I'm also a web developer and a FileMaker Pro developer so if you happen to need those, I can help you out.

The last guy I stayed with, his Mac mini had died so he couldn't share his music library with his AppleTV anymore, and the Apple Store "genius" insisted he needed a hardware repair. I got it all running for him again while I was staying there, no repair needed, plus got it so his library would automatically sync with his iPad, phone, and laptop, and set him up with remote screen sharing so if he ever had a problem while I was on the road he could call me and I could log in and fix it. I’m happy to help out with stuff like that.

Plus, having been successfully self employed for the last 20 years and made a living sufficient to support myself in one of the most expensive cities in the world without ever having to set an alarm clock or put on a tie, I just might be able to give you the inspiration to quit your desk job!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, England, Mexico, Netherlands

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States