I have hosted backpackers since 2008. I have had a very hard time finding hosts when I travel so from now on anyone who hosts me is guaranteed a place to stay when I am not on the road.

POLITICS and PHILOSOPHY
Neo-Marxist Revisionist (Marxism for the 21st century) utopian eco-socialist secular humanist devout atheist.

I suspect there are evolved beings so far beyond humanity that we cannot perceive them.
Those humans who sense them peripherally, worship them as deities.

I was an Army brat and grew up in Japan during the occupation and on various Army bases in Oregon Texas, Hawaii and Washington State.

Avid science fiction fan, world traveler, political radical and futurist thinker, waiting for the post human, technological singularity...

As a teenager I was a paperboy, mowed lawns, shoveled and had chores at home. I played alto sax in The Swingteens.

I served in Vietnam, and have worked as a teacher, parole agent, and run for political office. The career I loved the most was flight attendant, supervisor and manager for supplemental (unscheduled charter) airlines. For 20 years I traveled all over the world transporting passengers to exotic locations, prisoner flights, emergency disaster relief, evacuating refugees from war zones, transporting US troops and United Nations Peacekeepers.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As a young hippie, long before the internet I traveled the world looking for adventure, crashing wherever I found space; Joanne Woodward's abandoned sailboat in Tahiti, an old windmill in the Netherlands, a lighthouse in Spain, a boatel in Amsterdam, a fishing boat on the Ganges, icaves in the Mediterranean. I met Joni Mitchell in 1969 in Matala, Crete, where there was a community of hippies living in caves.

It was a golden age from the 60s to the 80s. I met many kindred souls who would flash the peace sign when they saw my long hair and would offer me a place to "crash". It was the Brotherhood of the Road.

Couch surfing is a way for me to pay it forward and I give priority to anyone who has, or will host me.

I also have 40 acres of rugged land in Shasta County near French Gulch and Whiskeytown, not far from Sutter's Mill where gold was first discovered in California. My Green Party Eco-warrior friends are reconnoitering the property to design an intentional community, living off the grid with earth sheltered housing. Anyone interested can contact me to camp on my property.

COUCH SURFING EXPERIENCE

Most of my guests have been wonderful people; honest, mature, responsible individuals and have received positive references.

I've had a few bad experiences. One woman who claimed to be a Buddhist monk, and was probably homeless expected me to pick her up. She showed up really late with terrible hygiene. a

A young girl begged me to stay even though she had no references and was penniless. Her parents had kicked her out, she was posing nude on the internet. I referred her to resources for housing and other social services. She is now attending Santa Monica College.

The worst experience I ever had was a persistent German woman with no money and no references. She showed on my doorstep at night. I said she could stay for the night and I would provide her with a reference to find another host. She stayed for a week. She was hungry so I fed her and loaned her my bus pass, which she never returned. She became extremely hostile when I told her I had other couch surfers arriving. She finally left after robbing me of my rent money while I was taking a shower. I reported her to couch surfer staff.

I am very careful who I host now, but occasionally someone will pilfer items they think I won't miss.

Interests

I play baseball, bodysurf, ski and box. I cycled New Zealand and ran my last full marathon at age 50. I'll be 80 in 2025 and still going strong.

I have a deluxe Scrabble board, playing cards and am a voracious reader, I use my flight attendant travel benefits to attend Green Party, science fiction and world fantasy conventions and any other excuse to leave the country. Sometimes I bring a companion.

Couchsurfers are often grateful and offer to clean or cook. I don't ask or expect it. I often make American breakfast for my guests; oatmeal, pancakes with bacon and eggs or plain cereal. I also sometimes make burritos, my famous pasta, salads and plant based hot dogs for vegans.

I have always tried to practice a minimalist lifestyle and maintain a low carbon footprint. I am an anti-establishmentarian, climate environmentalist, eco-warrior, internet activist and local politician.

• politics
• traveling
• cycling
• camping
• surfing
• skiing
• baseball
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Near future, hi tech, cutting edge, hard science fiction.

Cli-Fi, Cyber punk, Steampunk, hi-tech cutting-edge, near future hard science fiction, urban fantasy, alternate history and speculative fiction in general.

Sapiens and Homo Deus, Green Earth and The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. Earth and Existence by David Brin. The Genius Plague by David Walton, Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, etc. I have been a beta reader for David Brin and David Walton.

Movies: Birdy, Baghdad Café, 2001, Alien, Bladerunner; more listed on my Facebook page.

Classical music, Bebop, Dixieland, Reggae, Soul, Blues, Rock, Punk, Bluegrass and some rap.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 1963, as a young Navy Seaman based at Anacostia Naval Air Station outside of Washington DC, my friend, John Evans and I went to the Poor Peoples March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to see Martin Luther King.

It opened my eyes to racism and inequality in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. America still has a long way to go to end bigotry and the class struggle...

After the Navy I hitched to rock concerts and demonstrations all over the country; Kent State, the Battle in Seattle, Million Mom March, and every anti-Vietnam moratorium, etc.

I toured New Zealand on a bicycle in 1990 and 1995. I have backpacked in Europe, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Tahiti. I often crashed on floors and couches or slept in my bivouac sac wherever I ended up at night.

I was a Peacekeeper for Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention in August 2016 and stayed in the basement of the Arch Memorial Church with other activists. I was very disappointed when Bernie sold out and supported Hillary Clinton and rolled over again for the rigged primaries in 2020. That was when I realized Bernie, AOC and the fraud squad, were the controlled opposition.

Teach, Learn, Share

I sometimes mentor as well as learn from young couch surfers, share tips on how to travel on a low budget, and provide access to my collection of Lonely Planet and other travel books.

My Facebook page was hacked, and I lost all my data and travel photos since 2006 lost my Yahoo data from 1995. If anyone knows how to recover my data, you are guaranteed a couch for a month.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have hosted many couch surfers since 2008, most were responsible and considerate. I usually feed them or they cook for themselves if they have a special diet. I give priority to couch surfers who have hosted me and almost always provide my couch surfers with a glowing reference.

I have been hosted in Spokane, San Jose, Helsinki, Belgium, Norway, Glasgow Finland, Dublin, Bakersfield, Tenerife and Salt Lake City for the Annual National Meeting with Jill Stein.

Couchsurfing isn't the same since it became corporate. It used to be free after you hosted three Couchsurfers. Now there is no incentive to be a host so most people let their membership lapse if they're not traveling. As a result I am inundated with requests I have to turn down.

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Australia, Chad, England, France, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chad, Egypt, England, France, India, Japan, Morocco, Norway, United States