CURRENT MISSION

To come up with something to put here that is better than the unoriginal things I could say!!

ABOUT ME

I was born in Surrey, England to British parents, but I've lived in the US for most of my life. I rock out with two passports and dual citizenship, an American accent and a very strange (but not fake) British accent, and family on both sides of the ocean. I have absolutely no sense of smell.

I missed out on doing a gap year or studying abroad in college, but I think I've made up for it in the last 2 years...
After taking a TEFL course in Prague 2 years ago, I realized I love teaching, hate English, and still wanted to travel. I wandered around Europe (my favorite places were the Balkans in general (Bosnia and the island of Mljet in Croatia most of all) and Spain. I did that for a long-ass time, briefly stopped home for 2 weeks, and then set off to check out Malawi.

In Malawi, I lived with a family for a couple of months, started learning Chichewa (one of the national languages), and had an awesome time just experiencing the radically different (from what I'm used to) culture.

I found a lodge with volunteer projects up north, and spent a few months there, before wandering around Zambia, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

I've been home for a few months now, and getting a bit stir crazy in my mother's house.
, and then travelling for as long as I can afterwards before (assuming I pass!) finding a teaching position somewhere in the world.

I feel like I live in a bubble, and I want to put myself out there and see the world from different perspectives and in the context of other cultures.

I also have absolutely no sense of smell :-)

PHILOSOPHY

I'm still figuring it out, and it's a big part of why I'm going off on this adventure.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I hope to meet new people and have unique experiences in the place I travel through couchsurfing. I would eventually love to host people, but that will have to wait until I have settled somewhere.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Absolutely none. Very nervous!

Interests

I love animals - I used to have a wonderful boxer; I have a cat who I did miss on my travels but regret missing now that I'm back. She's a bit crazy. Holds excessive amounts of grudges and delights in fur transference.

I'm definitely a foodie. I love almost all types of cuisines, though Ethiopian is my favorite, and spending a month in Ethiopia was phenomenal. The meat in the Balkans is beyond spectacular.

I'm a big big fan of games (particularly when they can be converted into drinking games!); games like apples to apples, jenga, catan, ticket to ride, powergrid, rummy, taboo, poker, etc!!

Other things: singing, reading, chocolate, terrible television shows, really really creamy cheese, TED talks, crocheting, reddit, bacon, photography, whiskey (Basil Haydens's!)....

• animals
• cats
• culture
• singing
• photography
• chocolate
• cheese
• drinking
• drinking games
• reading
• traveling
• poker
• bungee jumping
• skydiving
• boxing
• languages
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: His Dark Materials trilogy,Roald Dahl, HP, Sunne in Splendor /anything by Sharon Pennman

Comedians: Trevor Noah, Louis C.K., Dylan Moran

Music: 30 Seconds to Mars, Anberlin, Black Lab, Darlingside, Florence + the Machine, Goo Goo Dolls, Mumford & Sons. Of Monsters and Men, Rogue Valley, U.S. Royalty, Imagine Dragons (and many many others)

Animals: boxers, salamanders, cats, horses, english bull dogs, elephants

Movies: so so many; one of the few movies I can watch repeatedly is The Incredibles. It's just incredible.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Great Barrier Reef! It was incredible. I was only 12 at the time, but it was beautiful and surreal.

In the last two years...

Lived with a Malawian family absorbing as much as I could
Travelling and staying in 27 (depending on how you count it) countries
White water rafting the Nile in Uganda
Skydiving in Namibia
Bungee jumping at Vic Falls between Zambia and Zimbabwe
Hanging with my head off of Vic Falls while being held by the ankles...

Teach, Learn, Share

I think everyone has something to offer and every interaction with a person, either positive or negative, shapes you in some way.

I love to sing, and while I'm not a professional, I do a pretty good job, and I love to sing with others.

I'm really good with pivot tables :D (This is an older response. I've probably forgotten it all now...)

Turns out I love languages. I picked up a decent amount of Chichewa and Chitonga in Malawi, and bits and pieces of other languages in other countries.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories? I don't know...

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Macedonia, Malawi, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Czech Republic, Malawi, United Kingdom, United States