Zachary Marx is currently living and working in Munich, Germany. He graduated with a degree in Political Science in 2006 from the University of Tennessee, and continues to bleed orange. So far, his vagabond lifestyle has brought him to five continents, and twenty-eight countries, with extended stays in China, Japan, and Korea. He started 80couches.com in February of 2011, with the ultimate goal of using it as the premise for couchsurfing around the globe. Your feedback and suggestions are welcome. He can be reached by carrier pigeon, smoke signals, telegram, and via the Interwebs, at zachary.marx@gmail.com.
This week–where we watched the U.S. Capitol Building overrun by fascist Trump supporters, in an attempt to prevent a peaceful transfer of power–was many things. It was tragic. It was deadly. It was dangerous and distressing. One thing it wasn’t:…
Note: I wrote this post the day before the COVID-19 lockdown began in Denmark. The timing didn’t seem appropriate to release it then, and perhaps it isn’t now, but I still wanted to get it “out there.” I know I’m…
As I sit here, as safe as I can be in isolation while the coronavirus pandemic rages on, it’s easy to think about parallels to the economic crisis of 2008. So far, The Great Recession has been the defining moment of my…
I first started thinking about this post last week while watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. On the show, Oliver played a clip of an Amazon warehouse worker complaining about having to come into work (especially in unsafe conditions, thanks…
Here’s a little experiment. I will list out a series of problems, and tell me if I’m talking about climate change, or the corona virus: Scientists warned us about the problem ahead of time, and were largely ignored until it…
It was like a scene out of a movie. Cue the words “Ten Years Later” flashing across the screen. But it wasn’t a movie, it was real life. Whereas a movie would fast-forward over those ten years in an instant, pausing…
Last summer I was in a crowded classroom, attempting to learn Danish, when the teacher asked us to name the best thing about our home country. For me, there was one clear winner: the US National Parks System. Yellowstone. Yosemite. Grand…
Long distance callers make long distance calls, And the silence makes me lonely. “Lost in the Supermarket” -The Clash I usually know after a couple of days. What starts off as hope, slowly and inevitably turns to dread as the hours,…
Note: Despite my strong feelings on the subject, this post is not about whether or not Judge Brett Kavanaugh should or should not be seated on the Supreme Court. Nor will it reflect on the separate and important moral questions…
The first day left us questioning whether we could complete the next ten. Everything hurt. Feet, calves, thighs, feet, shoulders, backs, feet, necks, feet, feet and every muscle in between. Muscles hurt that we didn’t even know we had. Did…