**8/2024: All of this is very (very) outdated. Renovation coming soon!

First thing's first: Please read the "my home" section for important considerations before sending a request.

Anyway, in a nutshell: I'm reserved and mellow, outdoorsy, logical (perhaps to a fault), and a classic introvert. This shouldn't be confused with anti-social; much to the contrary. In fact, this is one reason I'm a part of this incredible network, because the social interactions that result from CS experiences tend to be much more my speed than those one might encounter at a hostel or going out on the town to meet the natives. I very much enjoy meeting locals, just one or two at a time in a comfortable, laid-back setting. :) See, classic introvert. It should be noted that I also get along great with extroverts.

I studied Environmental Geography and have a special place in my brain-heart for Geomorphology, or the landforms around us and how they came to be.

I did a fair bit of travelling through the WWOOF program a few years back, spring-boarding my career in organic agriculture and related fields. I managed a small organic farm in the north Georgia mountains for a while, lived in a barn alongside our beloved goats, and now I'm living in an awesome spot near midtown Atlanta and working for a non-profit specializing in environmental education. My role there primarily entails overseeing a community garden in an under-served neighborhood just down the road from my own. I also maintain school gardens and teach kids how to get their hands dirty! I'm a certified permaculture designer, though I haven't quite figured out how to tap into my potential there. If this is something that interests you, I could take you to a working permaculture farm if we both have some free time to escape the city.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

In the past I have filled this section with proclamations of cultural exchange, global friendship, etc., which, of course, are all important and should be a major (if not the primary) impetus for travel. Meeting the natives, making new friends, getting the insiders' tips... these are all at the root of the couchsurfing experience.

None of this would be possible in the first place, though, for me and so many others if we were being forced to pay for lodging on top of the already-countless expenses of travel. Come on y'all, I work for a non-profit. :) So, one of the biggest reasons I'm on CS is to make travel cost-permissive instead of -prohibitive for myself as a surfer and for others when I host. I believe everyone should have the chance to travel for all its benefits--individual and societal--with which everyone here will be familiar, and this is one reason I love CS: through the generosity of the good folks 'round the world, we save each other so much $$$!

There, I said it. ;)

Interests

Basically, 95% of what I love revolves around the natural world. In addition to being a passionate geographer, I like to consider myself an amateur botanist and ecologist. I geek out about these things... a lot. If you ever want to see, just join me on a hike. I tend to maintain a slower pace than most because my attention is constantly being grabbed by some obscure plant or intriguing land form. Even my "anthro" interests have strong ties to the natural world (we are a part of it, after all, whether society at large accepts it or not). For example, my interest in agriculture could be more accurately described as an interest in agroecology. Look it up. Cool stuff.

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Seabear, Band of Horses, The Arcade Fire, Horse Feathers, Cat Stevens, Bright Eyes, Bon Iver, Brand New, Elliott Smith, The Head and the Heart, Iron & Wine, The Low Anthem, Damien Rice, Death Cab, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Fleetwood Mac, Joanna Newsom, Handsome Furs, Joanna Newsom, I Am Oak, Interpol, Manchester Orchestra, Kings of Leon, Portugal. The Man, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Radiohead, Shout Out Louds, Sigur Ros, The National, Tiny Vipers, and many more...

Movies: Mysterious Skin, Session 9, V for Vendetta, Shortbus, Milk, Thumbsucker, Whild Tigers I have Known, 101 Reykjavik, The Dreamers, Garden State, Nell, The Mothman Prophecies, Lost in Translation, Broken Flowers, and more...

Books: Into the Wild, God is not Great, Diary, The Road, Ethan Frome, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, A walk in the Woods, The World Without Us, Lost Mountain, The Botany of Desire

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well, naturally, I can't choose just one:

-One of the best nights of my life was going to a Seabear show in Reykjavík with my study abroad mates, then bar-hopping under the midnight sun until the wee hours of the morning. I also met Jónsi that night. No joke.

-Hiking ten miles across barren lava fields on the Big Island of Hawai'i to see a beautiful lava flow illuminating the darkness for miles. Meeting a new friend from New Zealand upon our return to the car and discovering that she hosts wwoofers at her farm near Christchurch. I'll be on her farm in April!

-Most recently, seeing the Bay of Fundy from three sides. I have a soft spot for visibly dynamic landscapes, and boy is this one of them. Watching the sea rise by a foot or so in about 20 minutes had me awestruck. The entire landscape around the bay, from the 2-mile wide mudflats to the artfully-eroded Hopewell Rocks, portrays the influence of tidal action. Plus it's all just beautiful to look at. Seriously one of the coolest places I've been.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: Anything you'd like to know about permaculture or growing your own food.
Learn: Anything. Really. Oh, cooking! I'm always open to cooking tips, as I've been teaching myself for a while now.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Plant knowledge and garden know-how, if interested. Travel stories. A mock southern accent (I don't have one in spite of being a southerner).

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, United States

• 

•