Updated 6/26/2024:
I'm currently living on a school campus, so unfortunately, I cannot host anyone because of liability issues and strict rules from the school itself.

CURRENT MISSION

I just love to meet people and explore new places!
A personal goal is to visit 38 countries by the time I'm 37. There is a club that I'd love to be a part of: The Travelers' Century Club. I need to visit 50 places on their list to even qualify so I'm hoping to reach 50 by before I'm 40 :P
https://travelerscenturyclub.org/countries-and-territories/alphabetical-list
I'm also collecting Harry Potter in as many languages as I can. So far: Japanese, Malay, Thai, Spanish, Vietnamese, Latin, Hawaiian, Chinese, Polish, French, German, Finnish, Swedish, Hindi, Korea, and Catalan (hard to find but found it in Andorra). I still need about 50 more!

ABOUT ME

My Husband, Richard Tumin's Page:
https://www.couchsurfing.org/people/rico96720/

(09/2022-2023)

We live in San Pedro de Alcantara, Spain. It’s in the south, part of the Costa del Sol. We are up for hosting but will be working during the day but we can definitely meet up and show you around on weekend and if we are not traveling at that time.

(2016-2022)
I lived in Zhejiang Province of China with my husband working but our journey here is only the beginning of many travels to come! I am teaching English writing as well work as a guidance counseling to get all my HS seniors into schools in American, Canada, EU, Australia and England.

We used to live in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (2015) and was originally from the Big Island of Hawaii. We are English teachers on a mission to teach our native tongue to others and learn the language and culture of the places we visit.

I'm a proud Alum of the University of Hawaii AT HILO (not Manoa) and am currently trying to obtain my license to practice Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine since I graduated in 2016.

I figure, I'm not going to get much traveling done once I've started my career so I should get as many stamps into my passport as I can!

I've hosted a few people here in Hawaii as well in Japan but if you want more information about Hilo Check out my Pinterest page if you need a bit more ideas about Hilo or the Big Island of Hawaii.

HILO Board:
http://www.pinterest.com/rardy/hilo-hawaii-land-of-the-kanilehua/

BIG ISLAND Board:
http://www.pinterest.com/rardy/the-big-island-hawaii-the-orchid-isle/

Tumblr:
http://aoiscribe.tumblr.com/

PHILOSOPHY

Don't really have much of a philosophy per se other than go where life leads you. I believe we can cope with everything that is thrown at us, so if we do something crazy or extreme, we should be able to cope and power through (tried and tested as COVID proved for many of us)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been fortunate enough to CS with people in Hawaii as well as internationally. I've been hosted by those in Japan, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Spain, Poland, Germany, Finland, and Sweden. I've helped collaborate meetings while in Japan and in Hawaii and I really enjoyed showing people around our hometown during our free time.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had such great memories meeting people from around the world through CS. I've only every had great experiences and know it's one of the best ways to get to know a place as a new comer, find out about the local culture as well as meet new people that become great friends.

We've seen some amazing sites thanks to CSer's recommendations and learned a lot about the local culture and history.

Interests

FOOD & KARAOKE!! *ALWAYS DOWN FOR THIS*
Travel and meeting new people
Learning about different cultures

I'm currently studying to get my license to practice Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine since I graduated in 2016. Chinese Medicine is a basis for my passion for medicinal plants but I hope to branch out from there. I want to learn more about indigenous culture's use of different medicinal plants as well as how it is used regionally and culturally.

Love to read (unfortunately, haven't had enough time), but thanks to my travels, I've become VERY interested in photography. I'm always snapping shots of everyday life or beautiful scenes/moments when I stumble upon them.
I'm a writer and can always explain or describe things better with a pen. Traveling has opened up a new world for me as a writer, hopefully, I'll make something for all of this.

Haha, an on going collection: Collecting Harry Potter in different Languages. I'm just interested to see how widespread these books have become.

I started blogging about traveling, food, things to see in Hawaii and Asia but check it out!
http://peregrinaria.blogspot.com/

• karaoke
• travel
• cook
• herbal medicine
• all food
• creative writing
• acupuncture
• oriental medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

I've written a book, check it out!
http://www.wordbranch.com/store/p91/5_Senses.html

Books: Harry Potter, Janet Evanovich's Plum Series; Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Series; Mercedes Lackey's Vow & Honor Series, Five Hundred Kingdom Series, Elemental Master Series, Mist of Avalon by M.Z. Bradley, Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, Shogun by J. Clavell, The Vampire Chronicles by A. Rice & The Dresden Files by J. Butcher

Movies: What We Do in the Shadows, Inception, the Princess Bride, DISNEY, Slumdog Millionaire, Star Trek, As Good As it Gets, the Matrix, Anne of Green Gables, Dogma, Bend it like Beckham, Shimotsuma Monogatari, The Gods Must be Crazy, Whale Rider, The Breakfast Club, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Shows: Game of Thrones (of course!), American Gods, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (original), Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse (Yeah, I like Joss Whedon before Disney), Carnivale, Star Trek Discovery, Sons of Anarchy, Arrested Development,

Cartoons: Rick & Morty, Venture Bros., Bob's Burgers, Bojack Horseman, Archer, Futurama, Disenchantment, Gargoyles, Mighty Max, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Animaniacs, Sailormoon, Ranma 1/2, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champoo, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood,

Music: easier if I tell you what I Don't listen to! I don't really listen to Reggae, ska in your face screaming, unoriginal R&B and pop (of course there are the rare occasional songs that actually have substance but once in a blue moon...)

Games: Secret of Mana (SNES version), Breath of Fire II, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Bros. 2 (Mario All-Stars), Mario RPG, Vikings in Time, Super Mario Bros., Minecraft (PC), Super Smash Brothers (Switch), Diablo III,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

[2024]
Saw a leopard named Lucas in Yala National Park section 1 in Sri Lanka. Seeing the tea field of Ceylon tea in Nuwara Eliya was breath taking and seeing how they were make in Ella was a huge highlight. The aroma of the tea was heavenly.

[2023]
Lots of traveling this year: Spain, Morocco 2-3x, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Australia *Rotto*, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia *Bali, Java, Sumatra*, Borneo Isle *Brunei, Malaysia*, & back to the US.

[2022]
We were essentially stuck on the isle for two years and were finally able to fly out…sort as long as it was within Taiwan. We went to 澎湖島 Penghu for 2 weeks and thoroughly enjoyed it! I highly recommend going if you get a chance!

[2021]
We moved to Taiwan and travel through the island. Explored from 台中 —台北— 瑞芳 —宜蘭 （礁溪）— 台東 — 綠島 — 台南 （安平）and back. This was all one trip but it was great to see so many parts of Taiwan.

[2020]
We were in Tibet, an amazing area just before COVID and met some of the greatest, nicest people during these travel. Definitely once in a lifetime!

[2019]
We went to Korea for the Labor Day holiday and meet up with an old student. The food and culture in Korea is amazing and it wore their traditional costumes as we walked their their ancient palaces.

Summer, we are planning on heading back to the EU to visit Greece then catch a train towards Bulgaria and Romania. It'll be great to meet up with some great CSers and exchange stories.

[2018]
Trip to Spain and Morocco. We mainly stayed with our good friends in Madrid area then CSed with a great couple in Barcelona, explored La Sagrada Familia - amazing structure that I could have stayed in all day - and did a one day trip to Andorra. I found my Catalan language Harry Potter there.

That summer, we visited and CSed with friends all over Europe starting in France, caught at train to Germany, flew to Poland, then to Estonia, Finland, Sweden and then to France. It was a great summer of meeting good friends and exploring their hometowns.

[2017]
Hiked the Annapurna Circuit Trail in Nepal over 12 days. It was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I've ever done physically but very rewarding experience. The best part is I met so many other travelers throughout the trek and the camaraderie we shared was instantaneous, deep, and I feel lifelong.

[2016]
Lived in two different countries this year
Started learning two different languages.

[2015]
My Gitt 'er Done Year!
Wrapping up grad school
Getting my production manager certificate and SCUBA
Wrote a book: 5 Senses
Biggest adventures of ALL underway...

[2013]
Over coming some fears in Samoa by exploring Piula Caves as well as Tosua Trenches (fear of drowning, underwater caves & heights)

[2008]
Traveled to 8 countries
Finding a secluded spot away from all the tourist and all your myself in the Ancient Angkor Wat to read or just contemplate. It's really surreal to be relaxing on stones that are centuries. Just trying to fathom the amount of labor and number of lives it took to build the monument is mind-blowing but calming at the same time. That and watching the sun rise and thinking, 'how many sun rises has this temple been a witness to and how many people have stood where I stood to see this spectacular sight!'

Climbing Tham Seua in Krabi Thailand. That was definitely a highlight of my trip, especially when I look back at it now. Climbing 1,237 steps was practically climbing a mini mountain (just about as painful too!), but coupled with vertigo, it made that trek a bit difficult. After reaching the top, not only did you feel a great sense of accompaniment, but a bit free. I looked down at the tiny town that I had started at with step one and realized that I wasn't afraid to look down at such heights; not after climbing it like I did. I over came my fear of heights at that moment and new that I accomplished more than just climb over 1,000 steps.

[2003]
Plenty (hmm..) When the Volcano stopped erupting after 18 years and started up again a few weeks/days later, I was able to stand a good 10 feet from Pele's flow. We gave her an offering of Liquor and cigarettes :D

Teach, Learn, Share

Stories, culture & usually FOOOOD.
Oh, and don't forget the pictures! I'm learning that pictures are a definite must on my "Must bring List" when I travel.

I want to learn about different cultures and local languages. I love learning about local herbal medicine because it’s my hobby and it’s pretty neat to learn about different flora and fauna.

I would love to share what I know about Hawai’i’s culture , and the different places we’ve lived and visited in the world.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love sharing stories about our travels and pictures. I also love to share food because everyone can connect on that level. Whether it's me cooking or grabbing a bite to eat, everyone is usually happy when is food involved.

Countries I’ve Visited

American Samoa, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United States

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