Hello! :)

Here is a little bit about me:

First of all, welcome to my profile!

My name is Ananda, and I am from Boulder, Colorado, but I am living currently in Hamburg, Germany. In 2016 when I graduated high school, I flew to Lisbon, Portugal with a one-way ticket and a carry-on size backpack. I had no plan, no phone, and absolutely no contacts throughout the continent. I wandered like a leaf throughout Europe until I unintentionally came across the City of Hamburg, Germany, and ended up staying with a Couchsurfing host in this city... for almost two years. This host (Thomas) has ended up becoming my partner and best friend, and has given me a new home base with him in Germany since the day we met. ♡

These last two years of my life have been the craziest I've ever experienced. However, through the many highs and lows of this time, I have realized a lot of very important things. I sometimes get this feeling in my chest that I just have to do something. It's like an itchiness for adventure and fun times. Exactly this feeling is what has driven me to travel in the past.

My aim in life is to live an honest, joyful, experience-dense, wholesome life that I share with other people. I feel like traveling is the absolute best way to find yourself. The things that you spend the most time doing and the people you spend the most time with - you become them in a way. You start seeing the world through whichever lens that you place before yourself each day. With that being said, I want to spend as much time as I possibly can doing the things that bring me joy. I would say that I am a very creative person - I love to make art, to hear/make music (I play guitar, American-indian flute, and I just started learning the saxophone), to go dancing, to write, to meet new people, and to share my experiences. I also love to listen to other people and discover who they are and what makes them individual.

I am very interested in learning languages. I have learned to speak German after moving here to Hamburg, but I become excited with the thought of also being able to speak Spanish, French, and Italian fluently someday as well.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think the concept of Couchsurfing is so wonderful. The people that you meet on here are so open-minded and caring. If you make a new friend on here, it's like you know that you have a mini home somewhere else in the world. Sharing experiences together, food/drinks, adventures, music, stories, basically just allowing yourself to open up to another person is so rewarding.

Interests

Isn't it crazy to realize that every single decision and thought that you have ever made in your entire life has brought you here, now, to this profile? I think so too. 😉

• animals
• dogs
• writing
• dancing
• wine
• board games
• reading
• painting
• hiking
• science
• road trips
• mountains
• learning languages
• playing guitar
• health
• exploring
• healthy eating
• saxophone
• listening to music
• making new friends
• being in nature
• making art
• being spontaneous
• happiness!

Music, Movies, and Books

I can rock and roll with all types of music, but I'll try to generalize:
- I love 60's, 70's, and 80's music. They never get old! :)
- I love songs with classical guitar. Folk, Indie, Instrumental..
-I love songs that I can dance to as well. I have to admit that some current pop songs, EDM, rock, reggaeton and basically all Spanish songs in the styles of of Enrique Iglesisas, Matoma, Pitbull, and Daddy Yankee make me want to dance like crazy!
- And also songs that are literally the exact opposite, like those from Enya, Snatam Kaur, Dirk Freymuth, Deuter, and Secret Garden.

And here are a couple of my favorites ;) : Lord Huron, John Denver, Kate Wolf, Loreena McKennitt, Kenny Loggins, Jack Savoretti, Passenger, Cat Stevens, Blanco White, Eagles, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Lionel Richie, Bryan Adams, Gregory Alan Isakov, James Taylor, Dire Straits, Udo Jürgens, + so many more

✧ (I would be delighted to swap Spotify playlists with you when we meet 😉 ) ✧

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I would say that the best and most meaningful experiences that I've had, happened last year around the end of August. I had just left the States, (for the second time), but this time with a plan to start a life in Europe. I said goodbye to my friends in the USA and boarded on a plane from Iceland Air with my two suitcases. I was feeling very uncertain about the future, and overwhelmed about my time in the States. Hours later, I watched the sun set over the horizon while sitting on the plane, and many people were already asleep because the flight staff had already turned the cabin lights off. I was listening to Colder Heavens by Blanco White (my favorite song at the time) while I watched the little "airplane" dot on the screen float over the edge of Canada and into the Atlantic Ocean. I turned my head and stared out the window into the darkness, and thought to myself, "Well, here we go Ananda. This is the beginning of my new life."

That's when I saw it. In the far distance, I saw what looked like a light-green colored mist. I didn't take my eyes off of this spot. Minutes passed, and it was as if the world was like, "Let me show you that everything is alright." The green mist formed into an ocean of green and yellow waves. I almost screamed with joy as I grabbed whatever poor soul who was sitting next to me and shook them awake and said, "LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!!! IT'S THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!" It was always a dream of mine to see the Northern lights, but I never, ever, would have imagined that I would ever have the experience of flying directly THROUGH them. I could even see the lights dancing over the very wings of the airplane.

After this moment, I knew that I was doing (and had done) everything right. Gratitude flooded my body, and I knew that my new life in Europe was in good hands.

Teach, Learn, Share

!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am always up for sharing some good laughs, food, drinks, and adventures (the best adventures usually include dancing, music, and exploring outside!

With much love (and I hope to see you soon!),

Ananda

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States