ABOUT ME

Definitely an easygoing person. I'm a bit too fond of novelty (an affliction I know many of us share) and love anything that feels totally new (or even partially new, I'll take what I can get). I've often been described as the "down for whatever" friend, and lovingly embrace the title. I think what many of us travelers wish is to live a thousand lives of a thousand varieties, each time being entrenched in whatever path that life led us down. But as we only get the only get the one life that we know of, we (or at least I) settle for at least sampling as many of those lives as possible, and try to integrate them into our multidimensional, nuanced, interdisciplinary selves. A self that we were born with the seed of, and try to nurture into the most colorful tree nature could hope to produce.

PHILOSOPHY

It's hard to say. When I was younger, I so thoroughly thought I knew some things and knew, just knew, that they would never change or be wrong. But sure enough, plenty of them changed or were wrong. So, I've basically decided that while I can form opinions and worldviews now, they inevitably will change, and that not only are there multiple ways of looking at things, but they can sometimes both contain truth even when they oppose on another. I do think that it's important to not let this type of thinking get you caught up in worrying about being wrong, though, because if you're so worried about being or doing wrong that you never take action, you will go through life doing nothing! Not that there's anything wrong with thinking, just don't let it get in the way of living.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I check the page of the city I'm in, and see what people are up to. I'm always open for someone to stay at my place so long as I have room. Occasionally go to my local meetup just to hang out with other CSers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted, gone to parties, events, etc here in the US and in China. Nothing but positive experiences thus far!

Interests

I'm interested in a lot. Though I suppose people reading this will want more than that, so here you go: some that seem to recur or have a lot of staying power in my life are:

-travel (who could have guessed)
-philosophy
-psychology
-literature
-computers
-music
-cars
-snowboarding
-basketball
-the technological singularity
-Shaolin kung fu
-fine art
-maps
-good stories
-dancing (sometimes...)

• arts
• literature
• dancing
• partying
• reading
• cars
• music
• snowboarding
• basketball
• soccer
• cartography
• languages
• philosophy
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: damn near everything

Books:
Neuromancer
Compass
Wayside School
100 Years of Solitude
Dictionaries
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Brothers Karamazov
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Metro 2033
Your Life and Other Stories
these are just off the top of my head, there are so many...

Movies:
The Matrix
Pi
Ghost in the Shell
Blade Runner
Metropolis
Akira
Holy Motors
old school martial arts movies (favorite at the moment is probably the Crippled Avengers)
Lawrence of Arabia
again, these are just off the top...there are plenty more

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The glowing waters at Vieques, Puerto Rico are absolutely amazing. Everyone and everything in the water has this electric blue aura around it. It's otherworldly.

Teach, Learn, Share

One thing I'd love to teach or learn is language. Sometimes I'll meet someone who effortlessly has learned 6 languages just through interaction. I would love to be able to provide or have that experience myself. I also think that I can offer my perspectives, while others can show me theirs. I love a new way of looking at the world, it freshens things up now and then.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Well the main thing I find that Couchsurfing is good for (other than the actual couchsurfing part) is story swapping. I've got plenty, from squeaky clean to wild and out; I find that other Couchsurfers are usually in the same boat. And if not stories, then I'm a sort of jack of all trades, master of none (maybe a few) - so I can discuss just about whatever interests you and have my two cents in on it as well.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, China, France, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States