CURRENT MISSION

I want to thrive and grow each and every day from the experiences that come my way.

ABOUT ME

I'm silly and can get loud and boisterous but maybe I'm a little shy at first. I love meeting new people, talking endlessly into the night, and giggling!

I live and have grown up in a suburb of Washington, D.C. but I went to college in beautiful Connecticut. I studied abroad for a semester in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was an incredible experience living in Copenhagen, meeting Danes, learning some Danish, and being able to explore the rest of Europe.

Currently (as of May 2011) I have extremely exciting traveling plans and will be in need of many welcoming couch hosters!

As a graduation celebration, myself and 3 other awesome friends are driving from Boston to California! We will need a few places to stay along the way as we are on a very tight budget.

My Grandma Grace loves traveling, she always has, and even though she's in her late 80s, she still makes the effort to travel to exciting places. As her generous and amazing college graduation present to me, I am able to go to New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and China from mid-July to mid-August. I'm traveling with my boyfriend who is raising the airfare and I am using my grandmother's money to pay for both of our expenses abroad. We are beyond excited but would really appreciate a few places to stay or recommendations of things to do.

PHILOSOPHY

Everyone has a purpose in life. I believe everyone has the power to make a difference, even if it may seem difficult at times. I think that we're all connected as people and need to see past differences and embrace each other's commonalities.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I don't have a couch of my own to share right now, and I'm new to this site but I hope to participate a lot! I will be a friendly and polite guest to anyone who is kind enough to let me stay with them.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I just couchsurfed a few times this June during a roadtrip across the U.S. I had truly amazing experiences and I loved meeting couchsurfers! I think this community is incredible and I feel a strong connection to it.

Interests

I love to sing and I love music in general. I like to make mix cds and sometimes I wish my lifelong career could be picking out soundtracks to movies.

I was a psychology major and so people interest me. I love to help others and share hardships and hopes with others. In the Fall I'm going to get my MSW (Masters in Social Work) and my interest lies in preventing human trafficking around the world.

I like to read and also write, I love watching movies, going out to bars, dancing, and just generally feeling happy and warm.

• cats
• singing
• dancing
• walking
• movies
• traveling
• music
• sailing
• psychology
• social work

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I'm open to almost anything, but go to my last.fm page to get a taste of what I'm currently listening to: http://www.last.fm/user/akablondie714

Movies: My all-time favorite movie is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Other than that, I love comdies and romantic comedies, some scary movies, mysteries, science fiction, I like most genres of movies.

Books: I love Jonathan Safran Foer - He's written Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, two of my favorite books. I love the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series (and the movies), and I also adore Pride and Prejudice.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Through my abroad program in Copenhagen, I had the opportunity of sailing a tail ship for the very first time, Maja. We anchored outside of a small Swedish island, Ven, and walking along there was an incredible experience for me. The island shore was rocky and a bit trechorous, but we walked for about a mile until we saw a path that led up a steep slope to the grassy island mainlands. Reaching the top gave me a perfect view of the borders of Sweden and Denmark, a beautiful blue sky and ocean, and a practically deserted grassy farmlands with a red lighthouse in the distance. I can't fully explain why this scene struck me so hard, but it's burned into my memory and something special and unique.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you gibberish (strange made-up garbled language), how to cat's cradle, how to sing (maybe!), recommend new bands and music to you, and who knows, maybe more!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, United States