CURRENT MISSION

happiness

ABOUT ME

If I could be any animal, I would very much like to be a whale.

PHILOSOPHY

"I don't understand how, knowing what you know about lung cancer, you continue to smoke. Maybe you don't inhale?"

I did not inhale, so I said, "I inhale."

"Why do you do it?"

"It feels good."

"If everyone did what feels good, where would we all be?"

"Feeling good."

--The House of God

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed a few times and had a blast! I've also been hanging out with the Seattle couchsurfers every now and then at the Thursday night meetups. They're a lovely group of people. I also had the pleasure of camping with a few of them at the couch surfing camp at burning man in 2010.

Interests

The mountains are my life. I love hiking, climbing, and the people I meet while outdoors.

I also love festivals - especially outdoor ones (go figure). I feel like I've become a much more open and accepting person because of the amazing experiences I've had and people I've met at art and music festivals around the world.

Other than those two major parts of my life... it's hard to know what to put in an "interests" section, because everything in life is just so gosh darn interesting!

• animals
• arts
• music festivals
• festivals
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• sports
• rock climbing
• chemistry
• science
• beaches
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I've ever done: I came back from a year of traveling through Asia and Europe. SOMEHOW I convinced myself to come back. Deciding to come home was like that time when you were 5 years old and the sun was going down, but you weren't done playing outside yet... and your mom was like "DANA! COME INSIDE AND TAKE YOUR BATH!" But you were like, "NOOOOOOO!" so you hid in the bush until she found you and carried you to the bathtub. Yea, it was sort of like that, but without mom.

During my trip, I spent a few months on a beach in Thailand called Ton Sai. There's great rock climbing there. There's also bathtub-warm knee-deep water that turns milky pink as the sun goes down. It's a nice place to float while you scope out the 4-pitch cliffs that shoot right out of the sea. I mean, it's paradise.

I met someone in Ton Sai on my first night who said "knowing when to leave is the most special skill." I think this is something that we, as couch surfers, might understand. I mean, we're all leaving a heck of a lot of places, right? Is that our skill - loving life so much that we can experience paradise, and still know in our hearts that there's more in this world to see? I dunno. Either way, it was a nice beach.

Teach, Learn, Share

Have you heard of the hang drum? It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. I would like to learn to play the hang drum.

And to teach: I am a scientist! I know that science sometimes doesn't sound as cool as sports or art, but if you're interested, I'd love to share! I became a chemist because I love to think about quirky things like the way electrons move and how we can use science to build a better life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, United States

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