I'm a 19-year-old student/organizer born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. Although I hail from a relatively mid-sized college town, I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel a respectable bit. My organizing work has also allowed me to traipse around the United States, and meet up with other progressive grassroots organizers that are working on the ground towards a better, more equitable future. While I'm passionate about social-justice-oriented endeavors, I'm also studying Geography as a sophomore at the University of Alabama, and plan to stay there until I earn my master's degree (crossing my fingers that I'll be done with it in 2021). Environmentalism is a huge player in future geographic work, so social justice and environmental justice are two pillars that are incredibly important to me. Although I've only lived in red states my whole life -which has proved rather exhausting- there's certainly a plethora of opportunities to speak out against unfair policies and overzealous politicians.

instagram.com/ambmchan

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

Through this site, I hope to expand my opportunities to travel while on a budget. I figure as long as I've got this insatiable desire to see and explore the world I should be trying to use CS to do it. While I've couchsurfed organically through my hitchhiking experiences, this site will be invaluable to future travel excursions where solid planning is more important. I'm also planning to study abroad at UCL in London this upcoming spring and would ideally hop around Europe on my breaks! Any CS help offered through here would help immensely with that!

Centres d'intérêt

Things that make me feel alive make me feel wonderful. Contributing to that sense of self-awareness are always thrifty activities that help me feel the most resourceful (read: dumpster diving, hitchhiking, thrift shopping). I've also got a massive love for photography. While I'm an amateur in every sense of the word, there's always some fun in wielding around an iPhone camera or dinky little 35mm point-and-shoot.

• writing
• photography
• reading
• dumpster diving
• music
• piano
• violin
• hitchhiking
• art
• travelling
• social justice
• feminism
• veganism
• npr

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

Music: I find that each and every day I become more and more engrossed with hip hop; however, anything folk-sy, angry, or post-punk (I know, that's a strange lineup) is usually right up my alley. Some of my favorite artists are: Frank Ocean, Yeek, Anderson .Paak, Vince Staples, FIDLAR, Alvvays, Sufjan Stevens, Beach House, STRFKR, and Vampire Weekend.

Movies: Alright, I'm gonna be pretty cliche -please don't groan. Any movie by Wes Anderson, Studio Ghibli films, and Marvel movies. Right now I'm particularly partial to the newest Spider-Man movie (Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man, hands down). Get Out was also a fantastic psychological thriller whose mind-bending aspects had me immersed in the film the entire time.

Books: Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami), Dharma Bums (Jack Kerouac), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath), The Stranger (Albert Camus)

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

Of course, related to social justice work, I've had the opportunity to attend the 2017 People's Summit in Chicago, IL. There, I was able to ask Bernie Sanders a question regarding political action/change during his keynote speech.

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

I've got decent proficiency on the violin and piano, so if you happen to have either of those instruments laying around, I could teach you a tune or two. I'm also a decent cook and I'm always more than willing to share my recipes with you as a self-proclaimed vegan master chef. Along the lines of a relatively "alternative" lifestyle, I've also gone hitchhiking a couple times. Assuming you're interested in things like that, I could share some tips with you! I'm also a relatively competent dumpster-diver.

Ce que j'aimerais partager avec mes hôtes

I'm always happy to lend a helping hand and like to try and assist in any way that I can! I'm not a bad listener either and am more than willing to have hearty conversations or sort through your existential dread and commiserate.

Pays que j'ai visités

Cambodia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

United States