CURRENT MISSION

Travel as much as possible in Europe while I have the opportunity!

ABOUT ME

Here's the situation: my name is "Emily" with the middle name "Margaret," and because my parents loved to make my life hard they decided to call me "Maggie," after my middle name so now I get to do a 5 minute explanation of what to call me to everyone I meet. This may have attributed to a somewhat polarized personality. That being said, I change my mind too often to really be able to peg any genuine description of me down (I think...), but a few constants in my personality are an appreciation of irony, sarcasm, delicious food and wine (luckily I have friends who can cook), making people laugh at myself or if I'm on a roll that night, at themselves. If you appreciate someone straightforward (some would say "blunt"), that's what I'm all about. I love to sit around and talk to interesting people, or I could go all out and do the dance club thing. Expanding your mind is always fun, too. I tend to jump into topics of philosophy and politics at the slightest provocation, so if you love to talk know that you have a genuine listener and hopefully vice versa. A bit naive from being raised in the "California bubble", but not stupid.

PHILOSOPHY

"The principal difference between an adventurer and a suicide is that the adventurer leaves himself a margin of escape (the narrower the margin the greater the adventure)" - Tom Robbins

"Don't think about it just do it" - Johnny Knoxville

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Prove to other cynics that people can be trusted and even enjoyed, prove to my own jaded self that people can be trusted. Hearing about your life, sharing some of mine, affecting individuals for the better and having others influence me to be a more interesting person as well.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm studying abroad in France for a year, so I knew that I wanted to travel around Europe but had no idea where to start. Luckily my friend here knew all about couch surfing and when we decided to go on a vacation in Spain we planned it out with couches in Madrid, Seville and Granada. I was absolutely blown away by how kind the people we stayed with were and how much fun I had in each city. Couch surfing just adds that genuinely personal touch of people being ecstatic enough to see you to show you around, make you some dinner, introduce you to their friends. It's seriously as though I had a long-lost cousin waiting for me in each city: we didn't know each other at all but there was still an undeniable tie of wanting to get to know each other better.

Interests

Back in California I was all about yoga, sailing, surfing, swimming, rock climbing, I played some water polo in high school, and hanging out with friends (read: drink). Here I've been getting into boxe francaise (I did some of that back in high school, too), aaaand drinking. But my genuine interest is hearing what other people have to say, changing their minds, feeling my own ideas start to waver, keeping memories of them that make me smile that I can mull over on boring days. I can play the flute, piano, a bit of guitar and of course the most lyrical of instruments, the ukelele. I can't sing for shit though. Or dance. Fake it 'til you make it, though, right?

• singing
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• yoga
• drinking
• clubbing
• boating
• politics
• traveling
• guitar
• piano
• adventure races
• surfing
• sailing
• rock climbing
• water polo
• swimming

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: The World According to Garp, anything by David Sedaris, You Will Know Our Velocity, historical fiction is fun (in that nerdy way that I cherish so much), newspapers, poetry, philosophy/political theory (Vaclav Havel, Viktor Frankl, W.E.B. DuBois), Narnia Chronicles, old-school Tamora Pierce books (so comforting on a long, cold day), anything where I can learn a few quick useless trivia facts.
Music: I'll listen to it. Seriously. Anything. But if we meet you may hear my iPod earphones leaking Mika, MGMT, David Bowie, N.E.R.D., Queen, Weezer, The Misfits, The Ramones (I saw CBGB in New York before they closed it!), AGAINST ME!, Jason Mraz, Beastie Boys, MC Solaar, Gipsy Kings, Tunng, etc.
Movies: I get bored with movies way too quickly so I buy DVDs of shows I love liiiike The Office, House, Arrested Development. Basically all the shows that those obnoxious know-it-all insecure intellectual guys listen to. You know. Those assholes.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Rappelled down a water-fall in Costa Rica in the middle of the rainforest. Sailing around Catalina Island with my body over the bow of the boat, my finger tips only inches away from the dolphins playing in the surf. All the amazing things in my life have been in nature, which is surprising as I'm usually a "concrete jungle" type.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'll teach you how to count in 10 and order from a restaurant in French. I'll buy a bottle of wine with dinner. I'll make you laugh with my terrible Spanish and stories of falling on my face. I can make great pancakes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States