ABOUT ME:

Instagram: @creatingspaceforwonder
Facebook: Emily Dobberstein

Despite my love for academia, I took time off from university four years ago to travel. Since then, I've been working and traveling on and off and have no desire to change that any time soon.

Recently got back from traveling and moved to back to Western NC! Currently living in Asheville, working on publishing my first book, which will be out in the next six months! (A memoir based on a road trip I took across the country when I was twenty, in the same realm as Wild and Eat Pray Love but with a greater emphasis on spirituality/processing trauma in the internal dialogue. If you want more info/updates about my book, let me know!)

INFJ. Four with a five-wing.
Learning more about the brains and emotions of different humans and how I can relate to them is one of my favorite things.

PHILOSOPHY:
Make a life instead of a living--in constant pursuit of greater knowledge, greater understanding, greater community, and greater love.

I believe that we all want to know and be known, to value and be valued, to love and be loved. I believe that there is light to be found in darkness, meaning to be found in suffering, freedom to be found in ambiguity. I believe that everything is spiritual, that there is power in acknowledging the reverence that hums within us, even when language falls short.

PLEASE NOTE-
**If you are sending me a host request, please include "plants and dance" somewhere in your surf request so I know you at least took a gander at my profile and care about the community aspect of Couchsurfing!

FYI I get multiple messages every day and low key hate being on my phone, so I normally only check messages when I know I can host that week! If you don’t hear back from me within two days, I’m probably not available!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Traveling is not checking things off to-do lists or taking pictures of classic things for your social media feed. Traveling is opening your heart up and immersing yourself in the people and culture and food and beauty and letting it all take you on an adventure and then leaving with a new family and home that you can come back to. Connecting on a deep level to other people keeps me alive, and walking into a stranger's house and instantly becoming family over food and laughter and instant conversation about dreams and passions and perspectives and experiences and adventures is one way that I am able to do that.

Interests

Authentic conversation! I don't do small talk or surface-level conversation. It slowly breaks my brain.
Tearing apart epistemological constructs in the realm of philosophy/spirituality/deconstruction and then trying to put them back together again
Writing! Working on my first book, but I also have a blog and enjoy writing poetry.
Anything and everything outside. I would backpack every day if I could.
Dancing! Blues, Contra, Swing, Fusion
I do triathlons, so swimming, biking, running.
Rock climbing - new to the sport but slowly getting better!
Nutrition - It's what I studied in college. I'm passionate about it but not in the way the American Healthcare System is.
Cooking, specifically international cuisine because American cuisine is boring
Mushroom Foraging
Talking about space and subatomic particles until my mind is blown.
Trying to preserve the insane beauty of this world through sustainability and minimalism
Acro Yoga - also new to it, but want to get better!

• writing
• cooking
• exercise
• running
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• philosophy
• psychology
• science
• spirituality

Music, Movies, and Books

Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Ben Howard, alt-J, Trevor Hall, Bon Iver, Josh Garrels, Xavier Rudd, Gregory Alan Isakov, Sleeping At Last

Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit Trilogies, Interstellar, The Dead Poets Society, A Beautiful Mind, A River Runs Through It, Star Wars,

Books - oh man. I could talk about them for hours. Most of my reading is in the realm of psychology/philosophy/spirituality. Also in the process of writing my own!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Quit my job in December 2017 to head to the eastern hemisphere for 6 months. Some highlights were living out of a van for two months and hiking every day in New Zealand, playing ultimate frisbee through Bali, riding a scooter through rural Lao, a 7 day silent meditation retreat in Thailand, and trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to brew your own kombucha (fermented tea) or how to make super healthy food taste amazing.

Learn? Anything I have not before. A few newly discovered passions I am spending time learning are rock climbing/bouldering, blues dancing, and acro yoga!

Share - Conversation that is actually authentic and meaningful. Small talk drains all of my energy. My friends tell me I'm a fairly decent cook. I can cook you a meal and you can judge that for yourself!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm extremely easy-going and minimalistic; I don't take up a lot of space and prefer authentic and casual instead of tidy and put together. Food is my love language so cooking for people and talking about life over a meal together is one of my favorite things to do when I surf. I will walk your dog for hours. I'll always offer to do whatever I can to help out around the house.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Laos, Nepal, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United States, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S.