I'm married to the sweetest man named John Richmond who has been in charge of travel arrangements until now. If you look him up, you can see my references too since we travel together.

I love to travel, exercise, cook (vegan and non-vegan), garden, watch movies, check out classic architecture, and read mysteries.

I am a former children’s librarian, teacher, freelance writer, restaurant server, and documentary producer. I really like living in the city where there is nearly always something to do close by. Cities particularly appeal to me because I want to know my neighbors and have people around often. I currently live in Oregon Hill.

When I first moved to Oregon Hill I knew nearly all of my neighbors. but with changes over time, gentrification and people moving in and out I now don’t know nearly as many of them.

My husband and I have helped start a Cohousing group in Richmond because we want to live in neighborhood that works and, eats and plays together. I also want to ‘age in place’ as an older person while enjoying a close knit community life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to travel and meet new people.

I lived in France for almost 2 years. I went to the university in Montpelier and took courses at the Sorbonne in Paris.

I have traveled to the following countries. France, England, Switzerland, Egypt, Spain, Canada, Belgium, Costa Rica, Mexico, Germany, and Vietnam.

My way of travelling is to stay as long as I am able to in the country or state that I visit. I like to learn as much as possible about a town, a country and it's people.

Since my husband and I live on one income, couch-surfing has helped us travel in the United States and Canada. And now we are going to Denmark. Denmark may be one of the happiest places in the world- but it is also one of the most expensive!

But we can't wait to explore the country where Cohousing originated.

We want to learn so much to help start our own Cohousing community in Richmond. (see Richmondcohousing.com)

We have 2 invitations to stay in Danish Cohousing so far and we can't wait. But we still want to learn more about Denmark- and couch-surfing will facilitate that.

Interests

I love to learn about green building, medicine, biology, animals, plants, geology, documentaries, and all kinds of other things.

Music, Movies, and Books

That's like asking who your favorite child is.

I can't choose.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Climbing cliffs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.

Hiking in Costa Rica on a washed out path in the mountains with only the trees of roots to hang on as we crossed over rapids.

Whoops that's two!

And I am glad to have survived.

Teach, Learn, Share

I do storytimes for children in a community marketplace called the Byrdhouse Market.

We belong to Mennonite Your Way and house visitors regularly.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Time is important. We love having conversations with our hosts if they have time and would love to have them visit us at our home.

We usually try to either take hosts out for a meal or cook one for them. Other than that we try to guess what would make a nice host present for them.

For non- air travel, we bring local or homemade beer or homemade meade if our hosts drink alcohol. If they don't we try to bring honey or something else.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States