CURRENT MISSION

To get off the bus and see as much of the world as possible before I get back on

ABOUT ME

After putting in eight years at the same job post-college and building up my savings a bit, I decided to sell off all my major possessions and travel the world for a while. I started in Ecuador in October '08 (moving on since to Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina) and then spent the 09/10 school year teaching computer science classes to Chinese students (in English, to their chagrin) at Chongqing University in China. Now I'm finally off to Europe to explore for a bit as I continually prolong my return "home."

I'm perpetually behind in my blog but it's filled with pictures and stories that probably give a good impression of who I am: www.sweettravelblog.com

PHILOSOPHY

I'm trying to see the best, the greatest and the funniest in everyone else and in myself. I want to learn new things, relearn old ones and possibly un-learn a few things along the way. I want to laugh a lot and regret little.

For now, traveling the world seems like the easiest way to do this.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Sadly, I didn't find out about the community until less than a month before leaving the country. By then, I had already sold my house and was living on the couches of others, which indirectly led to my finding this site. I'd talked to many people about surfing, but never really considered it until one night in Russia when a German man was proselytizing about his various adventures couchsurfing, and I was hooked.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None! See the "how i participate" part!

Interests

Traveling, writing, cooking (and eating), meeting new people, doing strange things I never would've considered doing a few years ago (simply because I never would've considered doing them a few years ago!)

• writing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• traveling
• blogging
• surfing
• computer science
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Raising Arizona, The Jerk, Groundhog Day, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Music: I'm always interested in finding new music

Books: My reading is limited to what I find in hostel book swaps these days. The last five I read (as of August '10): How to Be Good, Villa Incognito, The Andromeda Strain, Life of Pi, Pale Fire

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I rode a riverboat -- a "lancha" -- to get from Coca, Ecuador to Iquitos, Peru. The lancha cost 30 USD for the five day trip, food included. It was the least comfortable trip of my life and I was one of two gringos on the painfully overcrowded trip. But it was a uniquely unforgettable trip off the gringo trail. I survived a year in Chongqing, China, which was also kind of crazy

Teach, Learn, Share

I have to think on this. Offhand, I can't think of anything but a few recipes I happen to know. They're good ones, though!

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, China, Ecuador, United States

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