I am a digital nomad and a lover of adventures and creating stories. I have been traveling on and off since 2016, full time since November 2017. I don't do "touristy" travel and while I'll glance at the Eiffel tower, my main purpose of traveling is to meet the people who live there and learn as much as I can. I work in design and marketing to sustain myself while I travel — I do building, mentoring, and tiny house work for fun.

Built my first home, a 250 sq ft (23 sq m) tiny house on wheels, in Sept 2015. After traveling in my "vacation home", 32 sq ft (3 sq m) Honda element all over the west coast for four months, I decided the 250 sq ft tiny house was too big and started work on my new home, a 54 sq ft (5 sq m) THoW. In Oct. 2017 I left Texas and spent 8 months traveling the United States before getting the feeling I still had to much stuff... So in July I packed a 60L backpack and flew to Europe to travel with no real plans except to meet good people and give back when I can. During that trip, I traveled across France, a bit of Italy, and saw more of Spain and Portugal than most native Spanish and Portuguese will ever see. I ended my trip with a 200+km (120+ miles) walk up the coast of Spain and Portugal along the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage.

I'm an avid traveler, learner, artist, designer, vegetarian chef, and beer enthusiast. I love to go dancing, east coast swing, blues, and country swing is what I'm confident in... but I'm open to making a fool of myself in anything.

I'm living clean with food, exercise, environmental sustainability, and intentional living as much as I can, but I give in to a good beer pretty often. I have a love for problem-solving and learning and seeing new things. Life's too short to be stuck in a cube so I've designed my life to live simply, enjoy every day, and have some cool stories to tell.

My only goal in life is to be the cool old guy that young people say "damn... That guy has lived a crazy live..." at 27 I'd say I'm well on my way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love traveling, I love meeting people, hearing stories, and seeing new things. Couchsurfers has given me the opportunity to learn about other people and cultures I would otherwise never come into contact with. It's given me so many interesting stories and given me the opportunity to give back by hosting, mentoring aspiring travelers and digital nomads, and helping people realize that it's okay to be happy!

Interests

• arts
• design
• dancing
• swing dancing
• beer
• traveling
• painting
• minimalism
• music
• blues
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• road trips
• beaches
• travel
• art
• national parks
• craft beer
• bikes
• conversation
• tiny houses
• good conversation
• brewing
• blues dancing
• breweries
• drinking beer
• swing

Music, Movies, and Books

I am an audio and visual learner, so I love audiobooks and podcasts. Some of my favorite books:
• Tim Ferris "4 Hour Work Week" made it possible for me to travel full time and run my own business from the road.
• Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" taught me how to be a good human. Per a mentors recommendation.
• Dan Millman "The way of the peaceful warrior" continues to teach me how to live intentionally -- what time is it?--
• "Thru-Hiking will break your heart" has put a burning desire in me to hike 2,659 miles (4,279 km) from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington... Planned departure April 2019!

Some of my favorite podcasts:
• "The Minimialists" podcast continues to teach me how to live intentionally.
• My favorite storytelling podcasts: Snap Judgement, Risk, The Moth, Ear Hustle, This American Life, Radio Lab, Heavyweight,
• My favorite smart people podcasts: Freakonomics, Ted Radio Hour, Rough Translation, Invisablilia,

Music:
I listen to a lot of folk music, blues, rock, anything weird and unique. I have a weird crush on any artist who plays violin (Lindsy Sterling & Black Violin). I listen to a little bit of everything, it just depends on my mood for the day... I love anything I can dance to and am always happy to teach.

Movies & TV:
I am pretty ignorant on everything going on in the TV and movie world... Occasionally I'll watch an in-flight movie though.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I feel like I've lived quite a life already... some of my favorite travel stories include:

Travel:
• Walking over 200 km (120+ miles) up the coast of Spain and Portugal on the Camino De Santiago.
• Going caving at midnight in the middle of nowhere in Bend, Oregon with three complete strangers.
• Lived for two weeks in a squatters community in central California with the "White Witch", "Fermentation Queen", and the "Professor"... You'll have to hear the story to learn my "Slab Name" (Slab City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUTYSyd3LR0 )
• Living out of a car for 5 months and traveling all over the US.
• Pulling my house over 11,000 miles in 8 months.
• Visiting 20 out of 59 US national parks in 2 years.
• Stole electricity from the Amish.
• Being told I have "golden hands" by three separate cute Russian girls.
• Getting lost in the bad neighborhoods of Belize with a scooter.
• Getting lost and almost left in Russia.
• Getting lost and almost left in Copenhagen.
• Getting lost in Italy, taking the wrong bus, and sleeping by a river in a bush.
(the lesson here is... don't trust me with directions)

Personal:
• Leaving my job without a backup plan and starting my own business.
• Built 2 homes from scratch without any prior experience.
• Having over 18,000 people through my homes in 3 years.
• Being a crappy reality TV star (HGTV's Tiny House Hunters | https://www.dropbox.com/s/qzcqxa83zb3dw4y/TinyHouseHuntersEpisode.mov?dl=0).

Host me and I'll tell you the full stories :)

Teach, Learn, Share

• I can teach you how to make THE BEST Asian peanut sauce or Indian vegetarian curry. I had a host who literally requested a gallon of my peanut sauce before I left because she said it was the best she ever had and then texted me two weeks later asking when I would come back because she ate it all.

• I can teach you to swing or blues dance. I have literally taught hundreds of beginners in all the classes I've done... My biggest accomplishment was teaching two girls who spoke no English how to east coast swing.

• I love to draw and paint people, if you want to sit for a quick portrait I travel light but most the time I bring my paints :)

• I am a passionate homebrewer, I love to match people who "don't like beer" with something they'll love or just teach other beer drinkers a little bit.

• I help small businesses grow for a living, I'm happy to give a little bit of advice. My specialty is in digital marketing, SEO, and social media.

• I'm pretty handy around the home (I've designed and built two from scratch)... I don't mind helping out with little projects here and there.

• If you want to simplify your life and become a minimalist, I am a great resource to start that process. It's so much easier to get rid of junk when you have an outside perspective to help.

Travel, art, dancing, people, and simple living are my life and I'm happy to share anything and everything I know. Let's teach each other.

What I Can Share with Hosts

See "Teach, Learn, Share" for my skill set. I'm also a pretty good vegetarian chef and love to cook for people. I can give you more information about beer than you'd ever care to know about, including things like pairings, styles, how to pick something you like, etc. I can teach you to swing dance, cook, or maybe fix that squeaky drawer in your home.

Growing up my parents took us camping and taught us to "leave the site better than we found it", I do my best to extend this to my hosts as well. If a person is kind enough to give me a place to sleep, I do my best to reciprocate with a meal, drinks, teaching, or something... that's what's makes this community great.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States