I am the proud mother of 2 amazing young women who have both been couchsurfers and loved their experiences. My husband and I love to travel and experience new cultures, meet locals and enjoy nature and architecture. I currently oversee numerous child protection teams and provide services to parents so they can do their best to parent effectively. My job is stressful and rewarding! My respite is to travel and experience other places, which always makes me appreciate how good we have it and how fortunate we are! We love to host people as well and are looking forward to making new friends from all over the world!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing has been highly recommended as a wonderful way to meet locals and get a true experience of a place. When we travel, we prefer to stay in the non-tourist zones, take local transportation, learn the language and blend in as best we can to get an authentic experience.

Interests

I have been a vegetarian from birth and in the last year have become vegan along with the rest of my family due to the terrible harm that comes to dairy cows and newborn male chicks. Living a non-violent life free of harm to others is a key value for my family. My husband and I have been married for 31 years and enjoy travelling together, taking nature hikes, bicycling and appreciating stunning architecture. We are both social workers. We relax after work by taking a bike ride and/or walk, doing some yoga and meditating. We also enjoy cooking together and trying new recipes. We love to learn languages and are both practicing Spanish currently.

• animal welfare
• yoga
• meditation
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• psychology
• social work
• learning languages
• friendship
• social justice
• bicycling
• vegan food
• vegan cooking
• nature walks
• nature conservation

Music, Movies, and Books

Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy
Cider House Rules - John Irving
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
A Fine Balance: Family Matters: Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry
The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Hold Onto Your Kids - Dr Gordon Neufeld
Kids are Worth It: Winning at Parenting - Barbara Coloroso
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: When the Body Says No: Scattered Minds - Dr Gabor Mate
Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
Too many others to list!
I love Abba, Adele, Paul McCartney and the Wings, The BeeGees, The Beattles, George Harrison, Fleetwood Mac and many more new and old!
Mohabattein and Lagaan are my favourite Hindi movies.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Bridge of Spies

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've broken the cycle of abuse!
I've graduated with a Masters Degree despite not having finished high school!
I've supported myself from the age of 13.
I was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the age of 22 for the art gallery I co-owned and operated.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: tricks I learned about running successful retail and hospitality businesses. Social work, psychology and other counselling related information.
Share: my love for cooking. Indian food; raw and vegan food including Cauliflower Pizza, Raw Cheesecake - the best you'll ever have! Vegan mango lassi, ginger snap cookies, and other vegan desserts!
Learn: languages, culture and so much else - the older I get, the more I understand how little I know - I'm like a sponge and open to learning!

What I Can Share with Hosts

A home made delicious vegan meal.
Information about Vancouver and our travels around the world.
Answer questions about child welfare and development; trauma; addiction and other psychologically related information.
Hints about running successful businesses.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, French Polynesia, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Martin (French part), Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Tanzania