Howdy y'all! My name is Marek 'Storm' Farnik. I'm a wanderlusting traveler and cosmopolitan man of the world! I was born and raised on a wheat farm in rural eastern Colorado about 100 miles (160 kms) northeast of Denver. I have been a photographer since I was 7 years old, professional since age 16, and it is my passion in life. I graduated from Fort Morgan High School and Morgan Community College in 2008 with my diploma and A.A.S . in General Education, and then went on to graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver in Denver, Colorado with my B.A. degree in December 2010. I spent my early to mid 20's living in different places around the central U.S. such as Austin, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Des Moines, Iowa, before returning home to Colorado in 2017 and taking on a job in logistics. I worked my ass off 60-80 hours a week for 18 months so I could realize a dream: moving to New Zealand and living out of a campervan while I explored the stunning scenery and worked to continue my travels. I made the leap in late November 2018. After 7.5 months in New Zealand and doing 15,000 kms around the country and visiting every region, I was ready for a change, so I made another big leap to Australia and started a working holiday here in mid July 2019. As of January 2020, I've already done over 19,000 kms around Australia solo, traveling from Sydney ---> Brissy ---> Adelaide ---> Perth ----> Adelaide ---> Melbourne and working in Sydney, Brissy and now Melbs respectively.

I've done many jobs during my 20's, from working in a FedEx warehouse as a package sorter to working retail at booths at state fairs, to being a light duty mechanic in an auto garage, to remodeling apartments and doing handyman work on a contract basis, to doing freelance photojournalism work. Working across a variety of fields has taught me humility, respect and exposed me to a broad diversity of individuals that have made me a better and more well rounded individual.

I've always prided myself on being a man apart from the crowd - I do things my own way, and I embrace new experiences and challenges with gusto and fervor. I've always been 'different' and I've learned to embrace that and run with it.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

I joined Couchsurfing after hearing a number of my friends and fellow travelers rave about the amazing experiences they have had meeting and staying with people on this app. I'm a man who craves meeting new people and opening up my worldview through interpersonal interactions, and this seems like a phenomenal way to do exactly that.

I seek to stay with and hang out with my fellow travelers, and those who seek to harbor them, and share spaces, stories and serendipitous good energy in those interactions.

Since I'm new here, I'm happy to provide housing references so that you know I'm a decent human who can be trusted to be welcomed into your space, if need be.

兴趣

• writing
• singing
• architecture
• photography
• cars
• piano
• hiking
• snorkeling
• agriculture
• nature
• videography
• activism
• farming
• conservation
• debate
• writing music
• carpentry
• eating good food
• intellectual conversations
• mechanics
• hiking,
• horticulture
• country life
• storm chasing

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

I've been a storm chaser since I was 16 years old. I've traveled over 500,000 miles across the Great Plains and Midwestern United States, witnessing over 300 tornadoes in 19 states from 2006-2018. I've seen a two mile wide tornado and witnessed hail the size of cantaloupes, been blown into a ditch by a 100 mph wind gust, and experience the raw fury of Mother Nature up close and personal, flirting with death on a couple of occasions by accident. It's been the most defining experience of my life to observe the stunningly lethal beauty of nature's wrath.

教，学，和分享

Things I Can Teach About:

-Writing
-Photography
-Videography
-Photo/video editing
- Metadata
- Mechanical Repairs on Vehicles
-Singing
- Piano
- Cooking
- Country Things
-General Life Experiences

Things I Want To Learn:
- guitar
-violin
- hangliding
- knot-tying
- surfing
- other languages
- knife-throwing
- archery

Things to Share:
Adventures, wisdom, laughter, and savage wit

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

- Stories: I've lived a rather full life and have lots of adventures and misadventures to relate.

- Cleaning: I'm OCD. Not only will I tidy up the space I'm in, I'll probably do the dishes, straighten the picture frames, vacuum the floors and make things more orderly than I arrived.

- Cooking: I love to cook and am happy to help assist with or take charge of preparing meals in the homes of my hosts.

-Handywork: need some help with a project? I'm rather handy and glad to help with things like car repairs, yardwork, gardening, remodeling, arranging furniture and such.

- A listening ear: I'm always as willing to listen and absorb the stories of those I stay with, and provide insight and advice when appropriate.

我游览过的国家

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia

我居住过的国家

Australia, New Zealand, United States