CURRENT MISSION

"To drive free, to love free, to court destruction with taunts, to feed the remainder of life with one hour of fullness and freedom - one brief hour of madness and joy."

ABOUT ME

Professionally, I work in higher education. On the side, I'm a writer with a wide variety of unconventional interests, and a serious craving for knowledge and experience. Life is all about the stories, creating and sharing them. It's how we find ourselves, and I am definitely enjoying the journey! Since our world trip, we've settled down in Maine and had two kiddos so our Couchsurfing activity has changed QUITE a bit. We are open for traveling families but we are understandably more limited in who and when we will host due to kiddos.

PHILOSOPHY

"The most significant gifts are the ones most easily overlooked. Small, everyday blessings: woods, health, music, laughter, memories, books, family, friends, second chances, warm fireplaces, and all the footprints scattered throughout our days."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My husband and I have hosted a lot in Boulder, we surfed on and off on a trip around the world that was cut a bit short due to our oldest child's conception, thank you Northern Spain and the Ship of Fools LOL <3.

My husband Tosha's profile: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/tosha-rzhanov/

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted for nearly a decade now and I have met some of my most amazing friends through this community. We look forward to meeting new friends through couchsurfing.

Interests

I enjoy reading, writing, photography, movies, crafts, and music (pretty much any creative venture). I love exploring new places, adventure sports, falconry, karate, belly dance, and nearly anything vintage. My strongest interest however, lies in meeting new people, learning about other cultures, and generally trying new things.

• writing
• books
• folklore
• photography
• dancing
• education
• cooking
• crafts
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• bouldering
• music
• sports
• world cup
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Celestine Prophecy, The Secret Life of Bees, Dubliners, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, The Red Tent, Doverkeepers
Music: nearly everything, Lumineers, Zach Deputy, Norah Jones, Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, The National, Beautiful Girls, Xavier Rudd, K'Naan, Nas, A Perfect Circle, Tool, and the list goes on
Movies: Highest Honors, Fisher King, What Dreams May Come, City of God, I Love You Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This section will undoubtably continue to change. For now, Tosha and I had the most amazing night in Lisboa. After traveling around Portugal with Tosha's family we spent our final night in Lisboa alone together. We went to Sr. Fado de Alfama and had the most amazing and moving experience listening to music that I have ever had. We don't speak Portuguese yet, but we were both in tears by the end of the night. I remember every moment so crisply and sweetly.
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OK that above section was from 5 years ago or so. Aside from the obvious joy of making/having amazing tiny humans and feeling them kick in my belly and then seeing their beautiful personalities blossom, my absolute favorite moments were in South Africa. We had soooo many phenomenal CS hosts and the land, people, food, and animals were endlessly breathtaking. My favorite spot was a small bush pub we stayed a night at off the cuff. At sunset (the sunsets are unspeakably beautiful) we all grabbed a beer and headed down to the local bridge to watch for animals, but mostly I just loved soaking up the stories people shared, their openness, and their completely easy-going approach to life.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmm I can teach you a little karate, Tai Chi fan, cooking, and folklore.

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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