I'm Portuguese and grew up in my native country, New Zealand and Spain due to my dad's job in competitive sailing. At 17 I went to university in London to study theatre, when I finished that I volunteered in Bangladesh for 3 months with ICS-VSO and upon returning to London I began to work. As most graduates end up doing, I worked in pubs and bars, I also worked a bi-lingual sales job for a B2B publishing company, then I was a carer for 6 months, while I also worked in a warehouse packing toys; I worked at Latitude music festival one year, then went back the following year to manage one of their site teams and finally began to freelance as a set maker for one of the biggest event production companies in London which is where I currently am. Meanwhile for the past year, I've been volunteering in an event production programme at the Harrow Arts Centre to gain more experience in event management and through that I was awarded a Jack Petchey medal for my work.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've always had the absolute privilege of travelling the world with my parents and sister as I was growing up thanks to the friends my parents made through their travels and professions before we came into the world. We've always couchsurfed before the internet was a way to connect with people more easily - my dad once put a message in a bottle and threw it out of a ship and it was later found by an elderly american couple, many years later my dad stayed with them in their home in San Diego! Now that I'm more adult and independent I just want to get out of my bubble and go meet more people, see more places and make my own stories and memories.

Hence why, when I heard about this platform, I decided to join it :)

Interests

I try to practice yoga daily and go to classes once a week. I've been sailing my entire life so it was a natural progression to kitesurfing and windsurfing. I've been snowboarding since I was 9. I'm a cycle commuter in London, but I'll equally and happily accept the challenge of going mountain biking. Everything to do with food I'm in, even when I'm not hungry, I'll accept food, and I love to learn about how to make it. I rescue a lot of plants that are thrown away at my job, my boyfriend is the real geek, but we love to create and grow green spaces.

• diy
• music festivals
• cooking
• yoga
• music
• cycling
• windsurfing
• camping
• snowboarding
• history
• art
• plants
• theatre
• learning new things
• driving
• kitesurfing
• world food
• carpentry
• upholstery
• jigsaw puzzles

Music, Movies, and Books

I can never do these all-time-favourites! I can tell you I've recently just finished reading 'The Luminaries' by Eleanor Catton and now I've reading 'Empress Orchid' by Anchee Min both which are mind-blowingly beautiful. I recently watched 'The Light Between Oceans' (2016) and I couldn't stop crying by the end of it. But I also love the documentaries by Louis Theroux and Simon Reeve.
In terms of music, it's so eclectic and it always goes in phases... but I can tell you that I'm stupidly excited that my boyfriend if taking me to see 'Submotion Orchestra' live in 2019!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Skydiving has to one of the top things.. no pun intended.

Teach, Learn, Share

I never thought about what I can teach others because so often it's just about showing someone something once... or just sharing a story.
I can teach you Portuguese and some of our traditional cooking. I can definitely help people devise their own plays/shows! I can teach anyone the basics of sailing, kitesurfing... I've taught someone how to snowboard, cycle and to drive a car.
I'd love to learn more about various different ways to cook, more about horticulture and certainly more about upholstery as that is what I'm working in.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My time and skills... how can I put this simply? I'm not an idiot, almost anything you need help with I could help you with, if I have never done it before, I'd ask you to explain it to me before doing it. Maybe you need help decorating the house or building some shelves, I can do and love to do most DIY projects around a home. If you need help gardening I'd happily do that too. Perhaps cooking a yummy meal or baking some brownies, pancakes for breakfast anyone? If we're just sharing a space and you just want to be left alone, I appreciate and respect that too.

I've never done this before - does this answer the question?

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain