A solo traveler visited 95 countries (August 2022) with IT career and higher education in California. Volunteered some years in earthquake zones and developing countries. 100 days sailing in the Caribbean. A mountains lover, competitive swimmer as a teenager, adventurous traveler, friend of CATS, a simple human beings who enjoy organizing quiet homes.

Video made in August 2021 in Sri Lanka
Introducing Teacher Annie in 2 minutes 20 seconds
https://youtu.be/5NCLZt3piUM

***Warning***
Zero tolerance of men using Couchsurfing as Tinder or Dating App. Asian women are neither pornstar nor Thai massage. Please respect your hard working wife. Be a wise man.

LIFE MISSION

Experience and explore the world as much as possible when I am healthy and still young. Friendships Worldwide. Offered my helping hands to those in need. Work hard, study hard and play hard.

Dream to own 2 guesthouses in different continents as a local community hub when I reach 55 years old.

ABOUT ME

Solo traveler who has visited 90 countries (November 2021)

Have organized 400+ events in Hong Kong since 2012. Founder of Hong Kong Happy Hiking Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/happyhiking). Active in hiking, swimming, kayaking, etc.

Grew up in Hong Kong - 13 years in all girls' Catholic school that school principal preferred us to play music but not sports. Parents expected me to study in university to become either a piano teacher or secretary in an office.

Studied and worked 15 years in USA - university, graduate schools and worked at Sony Electronics, Oracle Consulting partner, Clorox, Applied Biosystems, etc.

Since May 2008
Sold all my stuffs, quit a good job, left the comfort zone, went to Sichuan China to volunteer in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief effort for two year. First as an independent solo volunteer, later worked with Japanese NGO from Kobe and other foreigners' groups. An unforgettable experience ever.

Happened in 2009
Volunteered independently as English teacher, farmer, health care worker, janitor, babysitter.... in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, China, Thailand and Japan.

Happened in 2010
Traveled 8 countries in the Middle East and southern Europe for 3 months. Couch surfed total a month in several countries. Problem with hosts in Athens and Istanbul using CS as dating/sex hunting site.

Happened in 2011
Volunteered in Japan earthquake/tsunami relief work for 2 months

From 2012
Active hiking leader. Have organized +400 outdoor activities (hiking, kayaking, canyoning, cultural visits, etc.) in Hong Kong

Happened in 2013-2014
Survived from sexual assaults and an abusive relationship with a medical doctor. I learned a lot about personality disorders and mental illness from this experience. The doctor appeared to be a gentleman who loves children, animals and patients.

Business Traveling in 2013-2014
Qingdao, Pingyao, Chengdu, Laos, Myanmar with executive clients

Backpacking travel in 2013-2014
Myanmar (December 27 days)
Thailand Chiang Mai hiking group

2 months in 2015 (March-April)
Malaysia Borneo (Singapore-Sawarak-Sabah-Penang-HK)
Visited 6 national parks, including Mt. Kinabalu

2 months in 2015 (August-October)
Istanbul > Bulgaria > Romania > Hungary > Slovakia > Czech > Austria > Germany > Liechtenstein > Switzerland > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Bosnia > Montenegro > Albania > Serbia > Kosovo > Macedonia > Greece > Istanbul

3 weeks in December 2015
Fiji Islands

5 months in 2016 (July 18 to December 14)
Hong Kong, Taipei, Istanbul (a day after military coop), Netherlands 16 days, France 18 days, Iceland 10 days, Stockholm 8 days, Norway 1 month, western Sweden, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Portugal 16 days, Spain Andalusia, Morocco 17 days, London, Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong

Happening in 2017
My father underwent an orthopedic surgery which costed me US$20,000. Although stressful and difficult living in a financial city Hong Kong, I am trying to spend more time with him.

April 16 days Southern Vietnam
May 8 days Hunan China

October 2017
A 27-day super challenging trip with my mother to Greece and Italy as her 70th birthday present.

November 2017 - February 2018
Traveled from Italy to Bristol UK and took a flight to Toronto. Crossed the border at Niagara Falls. Renewed my US Permanent Residency Card in Washington DC. Visited many museums.

February - June 2018
Backpacking in Cuba and hopped on a sailing boat for 100 days.

Sailed Cuba to Jamaica 28 hours. Sailed around Jamaica. Sailed a very tough 7-day passage Jamaica to Puerto Rico. Sailed around Puerto Rico. Left the sailing boat on my 100th day due to NARCISSISTIC ABUSE.

Took ferry from Puerto Rico to Dominican Republic and resumed backpacking. Stopped by Belgium for hiking, flew Hong Kong to visit my father's heart surgery.

July 2018
Healing from narcissistic abuse

August - October 2018
Inner Mongolia > Mongolia > Siberia Russia (laptop, hard disk, journal were all stolen by Russian THIEF) > Northeast China > North Korea

November - December 2018
Kyoto Japan
Chiang Mai for father's 78 birthday

January 2019
Phillippines El Nido, Coron

March - June 2019
New Zealand South Island 45 days, North Island 27 days
Melbourne 6 days

June 2019
Presentations at Travel Expo Hong Kong Convention Center

July 2019
Vietnam Phu Quoc Family trip with parents
Malaysia KL, Ipoh, Penang festivals

August - November 2019
Nice > Genoa > Lake Garda (Hospital) > Dolomites > Prague > Wroclaw > Krakow > Zakopane > Przemyśl > Lviv > Odesa > Moldova > Kiev > Minsk > Vilinus > Warsaw > Marseille > Nice > Beijing > DaTong > Hong Kong

November 2019
Celebrated 79 years old father's birthday in Sabah Malaysia
Completed Rescue Diver Training

December 2019
Parents to Zhuhai and Macau

January 2020
Recovery and Work

February 2020 to September 2021
30 days Sri Lanka was the plan but I eventually lived on the island 19 months and 10 days. Fought the battles of 2 sexual harassment court cases. 2 Sri Lankan men got sentences and criminal records. Attacked by dogs 2 times. Taught English to underprivileged village children. Experienced a life as Sri Lankan under Covid situation managed by a highly corrupted government.

October 2021
Dubai Expo 2020

Figuring out the next destination as Hong Kong still requires 21 days hotel quarantine and no room availability already in November or December 2021

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Before Couchsurfing website was born.......

First homestay at 4 years old with a Japanese family.
Home stays during business trips in USA, instead of staying in star hotels.
Spontaneous home stays on the road.

Surfed and hosted through friends, friend's referrals, Craigslist, WWOOF networks, etc. Simply love to meet with people that I surfed sometimes even when I was on business trips.

CouchSurfing has given me both positive (genuine friendships, cultural exchange) and negative experience (sexual harassment, verbal harassment, narcissistic personality disorders).

I have encountered at least 50 men through Couchsurfing that they were hunting for one time or short term SEX. Not that I am a woman who negatively see men but to save some people's precious time, please use other social media platform or go straight to red light districts.

Other than the sex hunters, there are also people who prefer very stable lifestyles and unhappy marriages but look for couchsurfers (potential lovers) to share entertaining stories. This is not exactly healthy and not doing to build genuine friendships.

I have hosted a man from Argentina who claimed himself in a super happy marriage but appeared to me as a man with big EGO. He was very determined to make himself happy and did not care about the host at all. He enjoyed talking about himself so much that I was very exhausted listening to his lies.

Couchsurfing is an adventure, isn't it?

Interests

Backpacking Travel, Cultural Exchange, Mountains Hiking, Water Sports, Volunteering, Recycling, NGO

• electronics
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• kayaking
• camping
• hunting
• surfing
• sports
• business
• teaching
• volunteering
• solo travel
• wwoof
• parks
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

My driving experience in USA

- 10 years of daily 20-60 miles commute to work
- Cross country trip 36 states, 2 months, 13,000 miles in 2003 by my own car, a manual 6-speed Matrix. Slept in car at rest area on highway every other night and some camping at national parks.
- Driving my parents to visit Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Utah national parks, Las Vegas.

My driving experience in Europe
- Southeastern France 2005
- Cappadocia Turkey 2010
- Greek islands and slept in cars by the seaside 2010
- Iceland highland off-road and south coast 2016
- Norway Bergen, Stavanger, Kongsberg 2016

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Volunteered several years without earning income. Can you do something without getting paid?

Made the decision and studied abroad in USA when ALL family members were against the idea.

Financially supported myself since 2nd year university and attended graduate school in USA when my bank account balance went negative.

Earned the US Green Card at 11th year of living in US through employment with higher education.

3 years in Sichuan China earthquake affected villages. I did tent-surfing, camp-surfing, ground-surfing with the villagers. Sichuan is now my second home.

2 months in Japan tsunami affected towns/villages.

2 months teaching in Nepal remote mountain village.

2 months in Japan living and working at organic farm.

3 months in India of intensive training of backpacking skills.

Met many fellows travelers on the road who have worked hard and inspired others.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Genuine friendships, travel experience, positive life perspectives.

Message to a special group of people
Couchsurfing is NOT dating site. STOP using Couchsurfing for sex or submissive Asian wife hunting!!!

NON-SMOKING Environment ONLY

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Latvia, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Japan, United States

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