CURRENT MISSION

To live in New Zealand!

ABOUT ME

Hey I'm Mexican and English, but born in Costa Rica. I start with that, because even if it doesn't say much about me, it maybe helps explain why I'm a little confused (not in a bad way, I think), and indecisive. But also explains why I love to travel, and meet new and different sorts of people. I enjoy challenging my views of the world and myself by interacting with people who come at it from a different perspective.
I love learning. As in, if I could I would just spend my life learning. And the neat thing is, if you're mindful enough you certainly can. I'm currently in the process of learning to put all that into practice. So that the lessons I've learnt from lectures, books, life, and people can be put to good use and not just sit untidily in my head. I'd appreciate any help along the way!

Oh also, I sorta, kinda, maybe really enjoy writing. But good writing is also about being a ruthless editor. I have not ruthlessly edited anything below. So fair warning. ;)

PHILOSOPHY

Smile.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've always couchsurfed (this can *almost* be taken literally if you take into account my parents' travelling habits since I was a baby). I've often hosted people, been to a few couchsurfing meetups as a local and a traveller, and frequently stayed with people. In fact I'm sitting on my hosts' couch right now as I type this (though as it happens this is not my bed, it is actually 'just' a couch).

But, I haven't always been on couchsurfing.org. I was, once upon a time, but may not have been 18 to start with. (Oops?) After Uni I went on a social media cull. The pre-facebook age had left behind profiles in several unused sites. Unfortunately, while I was being ruthless, I decided I didn't use couchsurfing enough -rarely had a couch to offer others- and so my account 'became dead'. :P

I haven't had a couch to offer over the last couple of years. Though that hasn't stopped people (or me) from sleeping on my floor. But now I'm travelling again and I wish I hadn't closed down my old account. I certainly believe in the couchsurfing ethos and was basically brought up with it -minus the fast broadband and cool social networking site-.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Thailand. An awesome but tiring spur of the moment two day (bus journey) escape to Hat Ton Sai/Railay to do some Rock Climbing. Would be arriving back at Bangkok at 4am with all my luggage (I know, I never learn) and my flight out of the country was at 11pm. Texted a friend of a friend asking for advice/help. He offered me a chance to crash at his place. Turns out he had to leave early in the morning cause of work so I barely got to see him. But, he's a CSer and in true form already had a CSer staying on a couch. I got to meet an awesome girl, talked our way through the entire day, and got to relax on the rooftop pool of the building. The view of the city was pretty spectacular and the building across the street had a sign in big letters that read “Life”. 'This is it' I thought. It was the perfect chilled ending to an equally fantastic but exhausting trip.

Interests

Education for the future; Developing resilience; Building creativity; Sustainability; Decision making processes; Design Anthropology; Arts; Reading; Writing; Human behaviour; Gamification; Epigenetics (what I can wrap my head around); Neuroscience (ditto previous one); Music; Social enterprise; Innovative and disruptive technologies; Mindfulness; Generosity; Travelling!

Likes: Tea, beer, dancing, swimming, museums, graffiti, mountains, the beach, music, spoken word, intellectualising stuff, simplifying stuff, sleeping on a hammock, spending time with family, expanding the membership base of my "family", dreaming, rock climbing, hiking (sorry, tramping!), helping others...

• arts
• writing
• books
• design
• dancing
• education
• beer
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• music
• spoken word
• hiking
• rock climbing
• swimming
• anthropology
• communications
• teaching
• neuroscience
• tourism
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't like picking favourites, and the list is otherwise too long. But, I recently finished reading White Teeth from Zadie Smith. I hadn't read anything by her in seven years, so knew I enjoyed her as an author, but I was blown away by how much in awe of her mind I still am.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-A female elephant seal resting on the beach just steps away from us at the most southern point I reached while road-tripping around Tasmania.

-My 60 something year old Nan climbing up towards a waterfall in Morocco. She managed to jump in front of all of us and the guide, finding her own way through the terrain as if she were a mountain goat.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: anything I can. Ask me, maybe I can help. ¿Español?
Learn: refer to my intro.
Share: this planet.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, India, Mexico, United Kingdom