CURRENT MISSION

Here and Now

ABOUT ME

Here is a list of the most important things to my career: hospitality, tourism (pro-poor, eco, and volunteer tourism), and sustainability.

PHILOSOPHY

My favorite quotes to live by, in no particular order:

1. "You are the only reason for everything that happens to you."

2. "Live here and now while thinking about tomorrow"

3. "Don't look up, there is no heaven above. Don't look down, there is no hell below. Heaven and hell exist within. Heaven is what you make it, and hell is what you go through."

4. "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness."

5. “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

6. "I walked behind this guy the other day. A homeless guy asked him for money. He looks right at the homeless guy and says why don't you go get a job you bum. People always say that to homeless guys like it is so easy. This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants. Outside his pants! I'm guessing his resume isn't all up to date. I'm predicting some problems during the interview process."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I enjoy staying with others and enjoying their hometowns with them. Tourists can learn a lot more about a culture, if that is something they are interested in, when they stay with a local.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Not much.

Interests

tennis, basketball, jogging, music, electronics and technology, and philosophy

• culture
• mardi gras
• partying
• electronics
• technology
• traveling
• music
• camping
• basketball
• tennis
• tourism
• volunteering
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Douglas Adams, Nietzsche, Foucault, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, Vonnegut, George Carlin, Mitch Hedberg

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spending time with the Ese'Eja in the Amazonian region of SE Peru, getting to know indigenous Mayans in Central Quintana Roo, exploring 19 U.S. national parks, camping through Europe, opening and managing a Hilton hotel, all of the LONG driving trips I've taken through Europe and North America, Mardi Gras in New Orleans (2x), Samba party in Rio de Janeiro, visiting the North Korean DMZ region and visiting the North Korean duty free store, working for MTV's Making the Band, meeting soooo many amazing students, and the list goes on forever...

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, I teach introductory university courses ranging from Intro to Hospitality and Tourism to Diversity Issues in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences as well as graduate student courses such as Destination Management and Orientation. Basically, I have 200+ PPT presentations I could provide you. But, learning occurs better face-to-face, right? If I could teach you something on this website without meeting and knowing you then a university classroom would be useless, which I certainly don't believe.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Korea, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States

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