Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I grew up in a poor family and community, both of which were conservative in their philosophy that all you'll ever need is home. And while I love this certain philosophy, those premises didn't condone much travel, and therefore, I had never been off of the east coast and had hardly been outside of New England. Now that I am on my own, I want to change that. While balancing school and other aspects of my life, I am making it a point to see and experience new places. So I am here. Not only because I am a poor college student that cannot afford the travel expenses of the average tourist, but because I don't want to be a tourist. Only seeing places when they are dressed up and glorified for its visitors has never interested me, and if that's what travel was, yeah, I would just stay home, too. But through organisations like Couchsurfing and by sticking up my thumb, I get to experience places in their most raw form, and that's the beauty I'm looking for.

Interests

• writing
• dancing
• yoga
• reading
• hiking
• backpacking
• trail running
• philosophy
• physics
• psychology
• road trips
• playing music
• boats
• physiology
• tenting

Music, Movies, and Books

The two books that I live by and read almost religiously are Chuang Tzu and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The book The Dancing Wu Li Masters is also making its way up there (I just have to finish it first).

I listen to a wide variety of genres, but my favourite artists include First Aid Kit. Stornoway, Casey Veggies, Grouplove, and the goddess, Lady Gaga.

I'm not so much into movies, but Interstellar, I Am and Step Brothers never get old.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This past summer, I worked at the New England Aquarium interning in their endocrinology department. My project was focused on stress hormones in gull fecal samples that I collected from three sea bird colonies on two islands off of the coast of Maine. For the entire month of July, I lived entirely on by own for the first time in the city of Boston without one other person I knew in town and, although it seems small to some, I had never felt more like myself, and this was amazing to me.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States