CURRENT MISSION

To have the most authentic travel experience possible!

ABOUT ME

Amanda: I have done everything from work at a childrens art camp with 5-7 year olds, been a hostess on a dinner cruise yacht in new york harbor, worked in the merchandising department at amnesty international, interned at Penguin publishing house, and worked at the campus library during my 4 years at college.

Most recently, before quitting my job to travel the world for 7 months I was working at a UK based publishing company called Palgrave Macmillan in the marketing department.

Alex: I too have held a variety of jobs including working at the office manager of a small doctors office in manhattan to working with an international student exchange program, American Councils. While earning my Masters degree I was working part time in a recruitment center helping to fill high level positions in hospitals in NYC.

PHILOSOPHY

It´s always better when we´re together

Que será, será

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far we have only been surfing, but we look forward to hosting people as soon as we have our own place in NYC!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We havent had as much couch surfing experience as some, but so far our experiences have all been wonderful. The last time we were coushsurfing was in Brazil and Argentina when we were traveling around after volunteering on a farm.

Interests

Amanda: Meeting new people, traveling, reading (anything and everything, though mostly fiction), dancing, film, photography, scuba diving

Alex: Playing guitar/piano, hiking, biking, playing squash , supporting my Redskins (American football), watching European football, and traveling (of course!)

• animals
• insects
• arts
• culture
• photography
• beauty
• dancing
• yachting
• reading
• traveling
• guitar
• piano
• cycling
• equestrian
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• scuba diving
• bungee jumping
• american football
• soccer
• racquetball
• tourism
• volunteering
• wwoof
• squash

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling, 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell, Cat´s Cradle and Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut, Bossypants by Tina Fey, Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield , of Love and other demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival by Laura Hillenbrand, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, The People Look Like Flowers At Last by Charles Bukowski, The Beach by Alex Garland

Music: Devendra Banhardt, Pretty Lights, Odesza, Parov Stelar, Manu Chau, Fela Kuti, Toro Y moi, Daft Punk, Florence & the Machine, Michael Jackson, Air France, Chromeo, Louis La Roche, Dido, Wale, Evenings, MC Solaar, Sebastien Tellier, Moonchild, Hood Internet, Mayer Hawthorne, Telepopmusik, Bibio, Breakbot, Animal Collective, Lana del Rey, Radiohead, the XX, Ryan Hemsworth, Lorde

Movies: Searching for Sugar Man, Waking Life, Nightcrawler, Wet Hot American Summer, The Kings Speech, A Few Good Men, Love Me if you Dare, Atonement, Revolutionary Road, Lord of the Rings Series, Whiplash, Inception, Before Sunset, Before Midnight, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Boyhood, Interstellar, Lost in Translation, Into the Wild, Never Let Me Go, Stoker, Midnight in Paris

TV Series: Breaking Bad, True Detective, the Mindy Project, House of Cards

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While living on the farm, Grota Funda (near Alto Paraiso, Brasil), while we were WWOOF-ing, we saw some of the most amazing insects and animals, some of which can only be seen in Brazil!

Alex: Diving with great white sharks in South Africa

Honorable mentions: I've sang in St. Peters Basilica for Sunday Mass, with my College Choir and hiked up an active volcano in Bali during the dead of night with only a little flashlight to help guide me. Seeing the sunrise from there was unbelievable!

Amanda: Jumping off Bloukrans Bridge, the world's highest bridge bungee jump in South Africa (twice!)

Honorable mentions: Diving in Ko Tao, Thailand I saw 2 whale sharks! In addition, I've hot-air-ballooned over the deserts of Phoenix, Arizona and paraglided in Mendoza, Argentina

Amanda and Alex: We have hiked through the El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico and swam at the base of a gorgeous waterfall at the end of the hike, a wonderful reward after all that work :)

Amanda: I went horseback riding on the coasts of New Zealand, it was breathtaking!

Alex: I have hiked many different parts of the appalachain trail, and I hope to travel the entire trail at some point in the future

Teach, Learn, Share

Its very important to be respectful of the persons home you are staying in. For example, your room should be cleaner after you leave than it was when you arrived. A good guest should keep their things tidy, always help clean up after every meal and keep the noise level down.

It is also important to be open to all new experiences; embrace the culture of whatever destination you are in as this is the beauty of traveling.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States

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