CURRENT MISSION

To see the world, meet new friends, and have strangers show us the cities they love.

ABOUT ME

We're now exploring our new home in Pápa, Hungary where we're teachers at an international school. Before coming here, we taught for two years in Shenzhen, China; three years in Almaty, Kazakhstan; four years in public schools in Oakland, California, USA; and three years in Japan before that. Traveling is our favorite thing and we'll go exploring at any opportunity. We got married and honeymooned while backpacking in Greece and around Europe for two months. We've made several more trips in the summers and other breaks. We enjoy bicycling (Ireland and France) and roadtripping in the US and Canada. Home is somewhere between the US, Australia, and Europe which could be anywhere in the world, really. In the meantime, we aim to live and teach in as many different countries as possible. We both speak English natively, but Michael likes to "pick-up" other languages (check out the "languages" section -- that's all him).

PHILOSOPHY

"Discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -- Marcel Proust -- Be a traveler, not a tourist. Let a stranger show you the city they love. Value time more than money. Be open to everything -- try everything at least twice. And take your best friend with you!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It was great to have so many people visit us in Tokyo, including, of course, a few CouchSurfers. We've also had a lot of fun visiting CouchSurfers in other places ... it's such a great project.

Interests

It's lovely to be anywhere with friends and family, and you'll probably find that there isn't a lot we're not interested in. We really enjoy great conversation over good beer/wine/coffee/food, as well as books, movies, cooking, photography, art, travel, exploration, education, being silly... We're rather keen on the Olympics and major sporting events -- we never miss the Tour de France!

• arts
• books
• photography
• education
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• coffee
• movies
• traveling
• backpacking
• olympics
• tour de france
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: almost anything, but specifically: travel, language, fiction/nonfiction, cooking and almost anything by Lonely Planet and National Geographic.

Movies: We love movies and have favorites in many genres and languages.

TV: We enjoy "The Amazing Race", "Friends", National Geographic, "Bones", "Mad Men"... just to name a few.

Music: We have a very diverse CD collection. Some current favorites include Train, Jason Mraz, U2, Sting, Lady Antebellum, Colbie Callait, Harry Manx, Michael Buble, Dave Matthews, Land & Synir, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Marley, The Waifs and Mana.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Amazing things?
1. We found a remote Greek island and just decided to get married there (with only some close friends and family in attendance - as well as about nine goats : ).
2. Our relationship: we were friends in the US before both of us left the country as teenagers -- Michael went to Europe and Brooke to Australia -- we kept in touch over the years, then later met up in Melbourne and fell in love! Now we're happily married and exploring the world together. That's pretty amazing.

3. Hiked up Waynu Picchu to get a view of Machu Picchu... and some llamas.

4. Jumped the second-highest bungey jump in the world... ran away from a wild bull elephant...saw the Taj Mahal... gave a tame elephant a scrub in the 'bath'...

5. Left our beautiful home in the San Francisco Bay area and moved to Kazakhstan! Whaaaaa?! :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Kazakhstan, Poland, United States

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