Hello! We're Austen and Elizabeth. We're from Portland, Oregon but are currently living in Oxford, England while Austen pursues graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Oxford.

We've worked together in outdoor education for years, teaching scuba diving, snowboarding, backpacking and survival skills, along with environmental ecology and conservation. We love learning new things, exploring, adventures, meeting genuine people, anything with history and all things outdoors.

We're also performance artists. Dancing, magic, fire spinning, eating and breathing being some things we like to do. Elizabeth is a visual artist and Austen plays the drums and guitar. We like attending festivals and spent our first Burning Man together back in 2017. We're also big gamers and huge nerds.

Anything to do with philosophy, anthropology, psychology, history, consciousness, altered-states, nature, the outdoors, MMA/self-defense, ontology and the paranormal will get us talking. We are currently working with the University of Oxford to lead an expedition to the Peruvian Amazon to look at Shipibo shamanism, ethnobotany, healing and tourism, with the intention of co-creating a visual ethnography with the Shipibo we work with.

Austen has a B.S. in Anthropology and a B.S. in Communication Studies, as well as minors in Outdoor Adventure Leadership and Film, Television and Convergent Media. He's mentored at-risk youth in the criminal justice and mental healthcare system. He is currently working towards a doctorate in anthropology so he can continue his broad interests in anthropology, psychology and youth development.

Elizabeth has a B.S. in Hospitality and Restaurant Management and his planning to go back to school for experiential education. She worked as a counselor back in the States and wants to someday start a healing practice that helps children and young adults build interpersonal skills and establish healthy relationships.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We're on Couchsurfing to travel, meet new people, save money and help others do the same.

Interests

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• culture
• poetry
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• music
• hiking
• backpacking
• windsurfing
• camping
• mountaineering
• surfing
• skiing
• snowboarding
• martial arts
• jiu jitsu
• anthropology
• archeology
• history
• psychology
• adventure travel
• food
• nature
• videogames
• poi
• sustainability
• diving
• exploring
• shamanism
• astrology
• harry potter
• climbing
• hoola hoop
• spicy food
• lord of the rings
• scubadiving
• krav maga
• flow arts

Music, Movies, and Books

We like all kinds of music but really enjoy EDM (Odesza, Dirtwire, Emancipator, Drumspyder, etc) and alternative rock. Austen is a 90s kid and loves Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and anything that brings back that 90s nostalgia.

We love Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, so Oxford has been a fun place to be. Sci-Fi and fantasy, as well as good non-fiction books, are what you'll find us reading. Austen is always reading something for graduate school.

Austen loves Marvel movies and finally got Elizabeth on the Marvel hype train. You will quickly make friends with Austen by brining up anything related to Marvel, sharks and/or scuba diving.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Austen: Leading and teaching scuba diving in Thailand. I spent months diving off liveaboards in the Similan and Surin Islands. I loved it.

Birdie: Volunteering at a healing centre in Peru where I created art and listened to the amazing stories of those coming to work with the shamans.

Teach, Learn, Share

We love to learn new things and share the things we know!

Things we can teach/share: flow arts (poi, hooping, staff, finger dancing), Krav Maga, submission wrestling, Muay Thai, drawing, painting, guitar, percussion, scuba diving, snowboarding, tracking, outdoor survival skills, fun facts about sharks.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We are happy to teach/share many of our performance skills with you. Austen may even teach you a cool magic trick if you promise upon pain of death to never share it with anyone =) Birdie can give you dreadlocks or maintain dreadlocks you already have. Art, origami, poetry, new skills, a cleaner space and full tummies are things you may be left with as our hosts. We also have a guest room back in Oxford that we can host you at if you find yourself in our neck of the woods.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Peru, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Peru, Thailand, United States