CURRENT MISSION

To wander and never be lost.

ABOUT ME

Finally back to traveling abroad.

I am a dad, a leader in tech, and just a curious human. I've both traveled and lived abroad but found myself too close to home for the past five years. Spending the summer changing that.

It is hard to pin me down to any single place but I’ve lived in the US (TX, UT, NJ, NY, CT), Burkina Faso, and Kuwait. I’ve traveled to 30+ countries in North America, Europe, Arab World, Africa, Subcontinental Asia, South East Asia, and Oceania. I try to keep a travelers mindset even when settled into a place; “I’m not from around here so it’s okay to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn.”

I was in the US Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso (2008-11) in West Africa as a math teacher in a small village. The best decision I ever made.

PHILOSOPHY

Do what you can with what you have where you are.

More to it than that, but it’ll require coffee and a lot of conversations.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Looking for interesting things to do or great conversations when traveling. It could be a morning coffee. It could be a walk through a museum. Maybe a live show.

In the past, I hosted with Molly (https://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2MLQ4L0). We did some travel together (and may again).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have hosted surfers from around the world and slept on a few couches, Spain, Burkina Faso, Ghana. It is a wonderful reminder about how the world is really just an extended community. It has been wonderful to make connections to people from the US, Czech Republic, Germany, Argentina, etc that we would not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.

Interests

I often find I am interested in interesting people. When I go to a museum on my own, I try not to but still end up breezing through and will often be completely detached. However, the same museum with someone that is passionate about the exhibits and I'm suddenly enthralled. People's passions interest me.

It doesn’t need to be a museum. It could be a hike, a cafe, a local music scene, etc.

• poetry
• theater
• coffee
• baking
• news
• reading
• podcasts
• music
• art
• museums
• local culture
• ice cream
• local music

Music, Movies, and Books

I do have a bias towards American music from the ‘90s to ‘00s, but I am by no means limited there. My tastes are chaotic. I recently loved going through 1001 albums to hear before you die. A live local band is almost always a good night.

My book interests are all over the place. Poetry, non-fiction, sci-if, fantasy, classics. I follow serendipity. How and when a book enters my life are the important factors.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the most amazing moments for me was when I was sitting on a hill in Kongoussi, Burkina Faso, watching as a crowd of protesting students surrounded the mayor's office, chanted and rattled the walls. This was during the Arab Spring, not so far away. The country was in the middle of a crisis. Students, Teachers, Police and the Army were protesting, looting and shooting. Yet, there was no news about it anywhere. Social media let a few of us across the country connect and share the news with the rest. Even in the remoter part of the country, a simple social media tool changed how I viewed the news and the world.

I loved my two hour bike ride to my major market when I lived in Rambo, Burkina Faso. I'd push through corn fields with Wait Wait Don't Tell ME podcasts playing, trying to find a decent path. I felt out of my element and happy to be so.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have a career in startups so I can always share about tech, scaling a business, and working remote.

I love to learn local stories or to learn about a favorite artist. Understanding someone’s interest in a place or its art helps me open open and better see it.

Always happy to share baked goods. I can bake bread (hard when traveling). If you know pastry baking, I’d love to learn.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Burkina Faso, Kuwait, United States