I find it very difficult to write about myself - so bear with me here. I often laugh at myself. I can be so ridiculous at times, and then overly rational. Even though I consider myself to be "healthy" (we all have varying definitions of the word), I will find myself eating Nutella straight out of the jar for dinner if the moment feels right. I am up for anything, well, most things, and I am always looking to gain a greater understanding of myself, others, and the world.

I guess you could say that I am in the midst of a post-quarter life crisis and I really have no idea what I want to do when I grow up, but at least I can be certain that I enjoy being myself in the present moment. I like to write, read, travel, run, laugh, eat, talk, and wander aimlessly. Ehh, how can a few words describe the entirety of a person? They can't.

I love New York City, and I will share my insights and enthusiasm of this beautiful place with you. I am a west coast transplant, so I still view my home through the eyes of a new born. Yes, some streets smell like urine. Yes, the rats here are as big as certain small breed dogs. But, where else can you stumble upon a blind violinist and a professional puppeteer in one subway ride?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love strangers, strange things, and strange occurrences - the stranger the better. I am certain that other couchsurfers are just as into exploring the unknown as me, which is perhaps part of the reason why anyone travels in the first place. When I am around new people and places my eyes open wider and I start to see the spectacular in the mundane (okay, not everything has to be so weird and novel in order to entertain me). Beautiful foreign words are useful for describing such instances, they contain complex phrases and feelings in one utterance. Some of my favorites include:

Saudade (Portuguese): A melancholy nostalgia for something that perhaps has not even happened.
Shemomedjamo (Georgian): "I accidentally ate the whole thing."
Gigil (Filipino): The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is irresistibly cute.
Gezellig (Dutch)/ Hygge (Danish): Coziness.
Voorpret (Dutch): pre-fun, the sense of enjoyment felt before a party or event takes place.
Tartle (Scots): The moment you want to introduce someone, but forget his/her name.
Seigneur-terraces (French): Coffee shop dwellers who sit at tables a long time but spend little money (i.e. me).
Komorebi (Japanese): Sunlight filtering through the trees.
Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the woods.
Sobremesa (Spanish): The time after lunch or dinner spent talking to the people with whom you shared the meal.
Ubuntu (Nguni): The belief that we are defined by our compassion and kindness towards others.

Teach me more words.

Interests

I enjoy quiet introspection, but at the same time I am curious to know what is the everyday thing to do for other people. Do you eat dinner past 8 PM? How often do you change your socks? I think we are all more similar than different.

• music festivals
• yoga
• marathon
• running
• meditation
• traveling
• drawing
• live music
• rock climbing
• anthropology
• business
• economics
• philosophy
• urban exploration
• art
• spirituality
• biking
• museums
• rollerblading
• wandering
• exploring new places
• deep conversations
• drama
• healthy eating
• self-development
• foreign languages
• foreign cultures
• art museums
• broadway
• experimenting
• unicycling
• musical theatre
• drinking coffee
• long distance hiking
• financial independence
• reading and writing
• early retirement

Music, Movies, and Books

Being John Malkovich, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Sade, Daft Punk, Pearl Jam, Sia, Almodóvar, Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson.

Tom Robbins all day, every day:
"Embrace failure! Seek it out. Learn to love it. That may be the only way any of us will ever be free."

"...she recreated the mountains not as she had originally seen them but as she eventually chose to perceive them, not only a capacity to observe the world but a capacity to alter his or her observation of it — which, in the end, is the capacity to alter the world, itself. Those people who recognise that imagination is reality's master, we call 'sages,' and those who act upon it, we call 'artists."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I hiked to the top of Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro to see Christ the Redeemer. Once on top, he had his back to me, but I was persistent and stuck around to capture goofy pictures of tourists holding out their arms.

Teach, Learn, Share

Yes, yes, and yes.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I will eat your food, but also wash your dishes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Mexico, United States