CURRENT MISSION

Get a business up and running while spending as much time with my family as possible.

ABOUT ME

My wife Katie and I love to try new things. We are very adventurous, and need change on a relatively regular basis to keep things fresh, fun, and interesting. We both love to learn, and to meet new people. Whether it is making friends with the cashier at the grocery store or another couple at the park, we really enjoy getting know more people better. Mike is an entrepreneur, while Katie is a stay-at-home mom and fantastic hair stylist.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in freedom. Freedom to, as well as freedom from. I believe in cooperation and voluntary interactions. I believe in the power of free people to do great good. I believe in learning and education, in thinking and reasoning. I am an ally of the truth, and an enemy of deception, compulsion, coercion, manipulation, and of those who seek for power and control over others. I believe in responsibility, accountability, and stewardship. I believe in consequences for choices, and in loving and helping others.
I believe in Jesus Christ and his example. I believe in love, patience, persuasion, mercy, and in teaching others, as well as learning from them.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Mostly hosting, but we love to stay with hosts on road trips when we have the chance.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I joined couchsurfing years ago after a friend from college mentioned it, then quickly put it out of my mind and forgot about it. A great host in Chicago inspired us to host as well, and we have loved every minute of it!

Interests

Anything in the mountains, and most anything outside. But the best things are often new experiences. We are not super accomplished rock-climbers or amazing canyoneering experts, but we love to try as many new activities as we can. Fall backs are almost always hiking, picnicking, bird watching, exploring, camping, and rafting.
Our interests range from fitness and nutrition, to politics, economics, and natural medicine. But there are few things that we do not like learning about.
My wife and I love traveling, especially road trips across the US. I am pretty tall, and therefore hate flying, but with a good audiobook, we can drive for days. We are trying to visit every National Park in the continental US, and are well on our way to doing so.
We also love chocolate. I am an amateur chocolate maker, though I am no willy wonka, I aspire to someday make bean to bar chocolate as well as many of the amazing chocolatiers in the Salt Lake area.

• birds
• education
• chocolate
• fitness
• marathon
• running
• flying
• politics
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• business
• economics
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• medicine
• road trips
• parks
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books--
Recognizing People - Alexander T. Pauols
Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt
The Law - Frederic Bastiat
The Incredible Bread Machine - R.W. Grant
The Book of Mormon
The Invisible Gorilla - Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simons
The Giver - Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle

Authors--
Seth Godin
William Shakespeare
A.J. Jacobs
Alison Armstrong
Michael Pollan
Malcolm Gladwell
Brandon Mull (I confess, I still get a kick out of a good young-adult fiction book)
Tim Ferriss
David McCoulough
David Ramsay

Movies--
Tombstone
The Matrix
IP Man (1&2)
Lord of the Rings
August Rush
Wreck it Ralph
John Adams (HBO TV Miniseries)

Music-
Whatever's good. I like music to move me, to make me feel. Happy, sad, forlorn, excited, thoughtful, pensive, melancholy, entertained, and very rarely, angry.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing we have done is marry each other, and bring an adorable little girl into the world. But we have each spent a lot of time away from home as missionaries for our church, Katie loves to run and has done a marathon, while Mike is a little too ADD to just stick to running alone, so he did a couple of triathlons. Our favorite spot that left us awestruck was when we went to Dominica together. It is the most beautiful island and we had a hard time saying goodbye. As mentioned before, we love the outdoors and national parks, and have visited more than a dozen of them in the past couple years, with plans to go to many more in the near future.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love teaching almost as much as I love learning. Be prepared to learn something about chocolate when you visit or host my family.
I am into libertarianism, agorism, and voluntarism, and can get talking for a long time about that if you get me started.
My wife and I are also both interested in relationships (particularly husband/wife relationships), and read a lot on the subject.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A comfortable place to sleep, a (hopefully) good meal, and a engaging conversation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Dominica, Israel, United States, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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