Hello! I am a recent design school graduate from California, but have been living in Vancouver, BC for the past 5 years. Last year I travelled in Mexico for 5 weeks and caught the travel bug. After finishing my degree I decided to save up money and embark on a 3 month journey through Europe to rekindle my love for architecture, food, design, art history, and life post academia. For the past 7 months I have been working as a cook at a Farm to Table restaurant in Vancouver.

"Nothing leads to a vaster form of life but the capacity to move deeply inward as well as outward. What is important is neither subjectivity nor objectivity but mobility, aliveness, the interrelation between them and between all relationships. A man who lives unrelated to other human beings dies. A man who lives unrelated to himself also dies"
- Anais Nin

I am trying my best to figure out the balance of my inner and outer worlds, and nothing is better for that than to travel.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Looking to meet new people from around the world! I love learning through conversation, excursions, and connections. Totally willing to cook, clean, help with random house chores.

Interests

I like normal things... mostly birdwatching, cooking, hiking, 8 hour visits to art museums, film photography, dancing, drinking wine, hiking for weeks on end, learning about plants, the feeling of mud between my toes, laughing uncontrollably, cold mountain lakes, landscapes, architecture, painting, getting soaked into a new book and making new acquaintances.

• arts
• books
• architecture
• design
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• wine
• drinking
• flying
• traveling
• painting
• hiking
• surfing
• art history
• history
• solo travel
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Books: Tinisima (Poniatowska), Sputnik Sweetheart (Murakami), The Old Man and the Sea (Hemmingway), Pillars of the Earth (Follett), The Alchemist (Coelho), The Omnivore's Dilemma (Pollan), The Tao of Pooh (Hoff), Letters to a Young Poet (Rilke), Siddhartha (Hesse), State of Wonder (Pratchett), Veronika Decides to Die (Coelho), and more.

Movies: Harold and Maude, Paris, Texas, Carefree, La Double Vie de Veronique, Anything by Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke and Howls Moving Castle being my favorites), Tampopo, Pootie Tang, Black Dynamite, Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, The Princess Bride, La Dolce Vita, Pierrot le Fou, Bout de Souffle, Vivre sa Vie, Amelie, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, The Big Lebowski, Oh Brother where art thou?, Weekend at Bernies, Pulp Fiction, Cashback, Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles, Arizona Dream, Benny and Joon, more

Music: Badbadnotgood, the Avalanches, Allah-las, Bibio, Air, Blood Orange, Angel Olsen, Todd Terje, Tame Impala, Grateful Dead, Gipsy Kings, Sam Cooke, Tom Waits, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Chromeo, Breakbot, Justice, Hot Chip, Yacht, Flying Lotus, Dumbo Gets Mad, Velvet Underground, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Queen, Lou Reed, Shlohmo, J. Dilla, Notorious BIG, Tupac, MF DOOM, Madvillany, Blondie, Dum Dum Girls, Chromatics, Flight Facilities, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Sublime, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Arcade Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Strokes, aka the list continues

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was 18 my cousin and I hiked 220 miles in 20 days on the Pacific Crest Trail together. It was epic and changed my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

A passion for living, communicating, and constantly learning. I believe that everyone has something to add to my life, and there is always something to gain from new experiences, even if they don't turn out as you plan. I like to go into new situations with an open heart and an open mind.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Laughter, my philosophies, stories (fairy tales, and my own), knowledge, cooking techniques, places to stay in California.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States