I'm a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford researching Latin American development (I like Bolivia and I like coffee - I'm trying to work out why Bolivia doesn't grow more coffee). I have terrible handwriting and I never stop smiling, I like maps and flowers and running in the rain (especially along rivers) and baking bread and once you get me talking about my research you'll never shut me up again.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've had various experiences of living with host families (in Latin America and in France - including six months with one family), and have also stayed with Warm Showers hosts while cycle touring in France and the UK. Some of the best memories I have from those trips are of spending time with my hosts, cooking and eating together, being shown around the local area, playing with their children, or just talking about travel and anything and everything else.

Interests

I've been running since I was about 8 or 9 years old, always long distances and invariably through mud, rain, snow, hailstones, rivers... Although I've taken a bit of a break from competitive running (urgh injuries), it's still my favourite way of clearing my head and getting out into the fresh air. I recently took up triathlon, since I love cycling too, and I'm hoping to get more experience of long cycle rides and cycle touring.

Music, Movies, and Books

I did a literature degree, so this might take a while...
Gabriel García Márquez stole my heart many years ago: Love in the Time of the Cholera is my favourite book, and the film is possibly the only one to ever make me properly cry.
I love Jasper Fforde for literary-based humour, and also Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveller. La Sombra del Viento (Carlos Ruiz Zafón) was the first 'proper' book I read in Spanish (with a huge dictionary to hand), and as you may have guessed, I love books about books...

Film-wise, aside from LITTOC, I love Stardust, Chocolat, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the singing bugs in Anastasia (I may have once messaged a friend saying 'NOOOOO, Dmitri needs to tell her he loves her!!!' There was no more context.), the first Hunger Games, The Mission (mostly for the scenery and the soundtrack), Chicken Run, Shrek, and probably more children's films than I should admit to.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've never really liked doing 'sensible' trips: my first trip alone was to Ecuador, volunteering for a month; first cycle touring adventure was six weeks around the north of France and south coast of the UK.
Adventure-wise I've done the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu (which was amazing and I would 100% recommend), and lots of wild camping and hiking in the UK, plus running Hadrian's Wall (84 miles/ 135km) in four days.
And my job/research involves some pretty cool trips: I spent three months in Bolivia last summer going to isolated communities to talk to people about coffee (and being taken on a walk to see the Rincón del Tigre waterfall: the tiger was sadly on holiday...) . My favourite being Independencia, a tiny town at the end of an 8 hour bus ride (on a single track, very windy road), where I lived for a month and taught Quechua women to knit tiny chickens and baby bootees.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm a really good cook (vegetarian, but there's a lot you can do with vegetables, plus I love baking and I make awesome pizza).

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bolivia, France, Peru