I have been living in France for 4 years (on and off). I used to work in Paris as a jeune fille au pair. I was born in the Philippines, but raised in the United States where I lived for 20 years. I am originally from right outside New York City, and currently I attend university in North Carolina.

I love traveling and talking to people about their own separate and interesting life stories. :)

Fun Fact: When I was an au pair, I was kicked out by my host mom and left homeless in Paris as a 19-year-old. I survived by living on the couches of kind people that I had only recently met. I eventually took a train to the south of France and lived there for a month, then road tripped Italy and Switzerland, and finally made it back to Paris where I found a new family who I loved. After this experience, I realized life hands out crazy challenges, but if you ride them out, it will all make sense and turn out for the better!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It's the fastest way to meet interesting people and to get to know a city. I think couchsurfing portrays just how kind people can be. I just have to think people are inherently good! Call me naive but the kindness of people from all over the world has saved me multiple times in my life.

I have couchsurfed in Vietnam, Thailand, and in France. Couchsurfing is the most magical thing in the world.

Interests

I am a very creative person, who is at the same time very logical! It is difficult for me to find a balance between my strategic and logical thinking and my need for a creative and explorative life!

• photography
• music
• business
• dance
• marketing

Music, Movies, and Books

Matilda by Rhode Dahl
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
4 Hr Work Week by Tim Ferriss

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This past summer, I traveled from London to The Philippines and across Southeast Asia with one of my best friends. In Vietnam, we had so much trouble communicating - when we went to restaurants we would order food by walking around people's tables and pointing to the plates we thought looks appetizing.

One day, in an effort to save money, we decided to take a bus from North Vietnam to the southern coast. Flash forward and this bus ride ends up being the craziest culture experience of our lives. The bus weaved in and out of traffic, beeping it's horn every 2 seconds at anything or anyone that got in the way. We just had to trust that we were going the right way, because we had no way of asking anyone or verify anything!

Our adventure helped us in a way, restore faith in The Universe/humanity. We were 100% vulnerable in Vietnam (and most of Asia, but mostly Vietnam) and people were only trying to help us. While language was a huge barrier, people found other ways to help us. We had to completely trust strangers, but it always worked out.

That said, I'm not insanely naiive and realize there is danger out there but still, it was pretty cool that nothing horrific happened to us!

Teach, Learn, Share

Yoga, Singing, dancing, theatre, biking

What I Can Share with Hosts

Language, music, dance, and laughter!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Philippines, Portugal, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Philippines, United States