I just moved to Philly for grad school and am still getting to know this city. Let's explore together! I enjoy travel, story-swapping, dancing, and having adventures of all shapes and sizes!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I recently returned from an 18 month trip around the world, and would like to open my home as a way of reciprocating the kindness I received from so many wonderful people throughout my travels! Hoping to exchange culture, good food, and good times with people from all walks of life. :)

Interests

Art, foreign languages, food, food, more food, learning about new cultures, making prints/pottery, travel, my loved ones, scuba diving (just got advanced open water certified in Honduras!), trying out new vegan recipes, going out and trying new things, and basically just having a good time!

• arts
• street art
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• picnic
• gardening
• traveling
• pottery
• hiking
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• swimming
• anthropology
• languages
• language exchange
• exploring
• cliffdiving

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I lived in Osaka, I was doing field work on the daily lives of men living on the streets of Kamagasaki, so I would just go and hang out, talk, or just sit on the sidelines and see what was going on. Eventually, people started to recognize me when they saw me around (a blonde American girl stands out a bit in a community comprised solely of Japanese men). One night I missed the last train home and only had about 500 yen (about 6 USD) on me, and was lucky enough to be taken under the collective wing of two men I had spoken with earlier. One man bought me hot tea, another shared his cardboard squares with me to sit on. Other people came and started to hang out, and it turned into a spontaneous sidewalk picnic, with each person offering something different (juice, water chestnuts, cookies, tea). I tried to pitch in my 500 yen but they wouldn't hear of it, since I was their guest. For hours, the spontaneous party continued, with everyone laughing and talking and sharing what they had. It was off-the-cuff, awesome, and completely genuine, and it was definitely one of the best memories that I took away from my time in Japan.

Other recent amazing things:

Circumnavigating the globe

Driving my 125cc Honda Win motorcycle all the way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

Cliffdiving from 50 ft into a waterfall in Hawaii!

Cliffdiving from 30 ft into a volcanic crater in Oregon!

Hitch hiking solo along the Great Ocean Road in Australia

Traveling across the US solo, from Washington, DC to San Francisco, CA

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking, gardening/farming, language exchange, and fun!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bahamas, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Honduras, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States