CURRENT MISSION

Travel to countries with health care needs and observe and then improve their care centers by helping locals set up businesses to do so. Oh and climb as much and in as many places as possible along the way!!

ABOUT ME

I work very hard to get as much out of my time as I can. I believe that people overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a week. Similarly, people sell themselves short on following their goals and dreams over long periods of time. I try to balance my life between always working towards my goals and taking time to stop and smell the flowers. I am passionate and dedicated. I love to learn. I love to cook. But most of all I love people. I try to be compassionate towards others and I believe that people truly try to do their best and to do the right thing. People say 'life is too short,' but I disagree! It's one of the longest things you'll ever do, so enjoy it! Get out of life what you want to get, but also make sure that you are living for others as well.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is all about the journey, not the destination!

And always remember the Golden Rule ~ Treat other the way you would like to be treated.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have lived by the couch surfing philosophy for longer than I've known about couch surfing. My three favorite parts of traveling is to experience a new culture, specifically seeing the architecture and trying the new food. But ultimately my favorite part of travel and life in general is to meet new people who have passion for what they do.

This is how I learned about CouchSurfing. I was stuck in an airport in Mongolia for 24 hours and during that time I became good friends with two wonderful people from Croatia who were also heading to China. We spent time together traveling together and during this time I had my first official CouchSurfing experience, where I stayed with an awesome host in Shanghai. Some of my favorite memories from my trip in Asia were with people I met directly through CouchSurfing. Not only did I glean insights into the lifestyle and history of locals but I also got an insider's view on the best "below the radar" things to do in each place I visited.

I hope to continue this experience of meeting new people and helping travelers to have the best possible time while they are in my hometown!

Interests

Being outside, especially in the mountains, is part of what makes me the most happy. That is only trumped by sharing those experiences with people I truly enjoy. I am currently training to be able to climb some of the worlds biggest mountains with my brother. I love to climb and camp. Putting them together is one of my dreams.

I enjoy cooking even more than eating! Strange, but true. I cook for anyone who comes over and to me it's just a fun experience. I normally don't use recipes. I like to take pictures of foods when I travel and then try to recreate the ones I enjoyed. Experiencing new cuisines is one of my favorite parts of traveling and bringing that back to Salt Lake City is part of how I continue to enjoy the experience!

I think looking at how varying cultures influence, and ultimately shape, their respective health care systems is interesting. I enjoy learning about these differences and then hopefully helping to facilitate improvements to the health care being provided through starting businesses with the locals. This brings me to lots of different places, but the real joy is that it has afforded me the opportunity to meet some phenomenal people!

• culture
• architecture
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• flowers
• traveling
• camping
• surfing
• history
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I don't think it would be easy to narrow it down to just a few experiences, but one realization that I keep coming back to is that no matter where I travel I continue to reinforce in my mind that people are all the same no matter where in the world I am or where they come from. In general; people all want to feel loved, they all want to feel accepted, and they all want to feel like their contributions are important and valued. This list goes on, but I believe this is a wonderful lens through which to look at the world.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States