* The more advanced notice you can give, the better chance you'll have of hearing back from me and of my accepting your request to stay with us. I understand life is crazy and it's hard to know when you're traveling when you'll be arriving so it's fine if you have to change your dates somewhat even after I accept your request, but if your request is for under a week, there's a good chance I won't see the request in time to respond. Hopefully this helps you decide if you want to send me a request!

CURRENT MISSION

seeing the world with the minimum amount of suffering necessary

ABOUT ME

I have been traveling on and off, mostly on, for the last 15 years and I have no plans to stop. I willingly take on the labels traveler, philosopher, and punk. I have learned that I, like most humans, am inevitably wrong about everything and that this is probably the most important thing i´ve learned so far.

I've been to somewhere between 30 and 40 countries (I plan on seeing them all) and have traveled alot in Mexico and Central America selling my jewelry and henna and hair wraps and spinning fire. I figure I have one go at this life and I´m going to make it as full as possible. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and great friends and I sometimes wonder whether the experiences I´ve lived will compensate for the fact that the people I love the most and who love me the most, are not around me most of the time. Although having recently gotten married to the most wonderful man who shares my love of traveling, has made this sacrifice much less difficult

I remember thinking 10 years ago that it was so easy to choose ones´ path in life, you just do what you want. I'm still amazed when I seem to be choosing against my immediate wants, but it's just not as simple as youth made it appear. Sometimes you want more than one thing and sometimes experience has taught you that you don't actually want what you think you do. In any case, I´m still learning and am still sometimes frustrated by how much there is to learn. On other days this same fact excites me.

PHILOSOPHY

I think we humans make life alot harder on ourselves and on others than we need to. A lıttle kındness and a little patıence seem to go a long way. I dıscovered a whıle ago that we can choose who we are and so I don´t understand why so many people choose not to make themselves ınto good people. Vırtues and vıces are moral habıts, whıch makes them somethıng we can create or destroy wıth our own wıllpower, and so I am dedıcated to makıng myself ınto the best human I can be, one day and one choıce at a tıme. The hardest part sometımes seems to be ın defınıng what ıt ıs to be a good human.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing, like hitchhiking, provides an opportunity to hear people's stories and to share your own and requires you to find good people, thus redeeming my faith in what otherwise at times seems like a pretty shitty human race.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I thınk kındness and patıence are crucıal to our survıval as a human race and couchsurfing seems like a wonderful way to ensure at least my own survival!

I lived in an apartment in Istanbul that was a couchsurfing hub, so I have certainly hosted my fair amount of people. (Istanbul is also where I created this profile, and their keyboards use a different 'i' which is why my profile might look a little odd.) I have stayed in various people's homes around the world and have always enjoyed the experience!

We are now living in Penang, Malaysia where I teach English at a language school. I love my home and like the idea of sharing it with other fun and interesting people. Unfortunately life is hectic right now, which means we're only able to say yes to about one group per month, and we prefer 2-3 day requests for 1-2 people. Asking at least a few weeks in advance also helps.

Interests

Swımmıng, readıng, great food, seeıng new places, meetıng new people, basement shows, spınnıng fıre, smokıng, and great kıssıng, for a start.

• books
• dining
• reading
• traveling
• survival
• music
• live music
• philosophy
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

So, so many! and some of my favorıte converstatıons are about musıc, movıes, and books! But here are a few of my favorıtes:

Books and authors: Trinity by Leon Uris, Gone with the Wind, A Fine Balance, The Grapes of Wrath, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Any Tom Robbins, Good Omens, The Hours, Travels with Charley, Robert Jordan´s Wheel of Time Series, any Steinbeck, any Barbara Kingsolver

Musıc: Choking Victim, Defiance Ohio, Man Afraid, Civil Disobedience, Leftöver Crack, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Mason Jennings, The Devil Makes Three, Sublime

Movıes: The Princess Bride, Up In The Air, Die Hard 4, Boondock Saints, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Newsies, The Boondock Saints, The Goonies

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One! Hah! I have a plethora of storıes to share but they´re defınetly best shared ın person. Let´s hope we get the chance!

Teach, Learn, Share

I´ve been spınnıng fıre for over 10 years and I´d be happy to help you make your own chaıns and to get started. I´ve also sold my jewelry though Central Amerıca and hıtchhıked throughout the Unıted states, so ıf you see anythıng to be learned from that, I´m more than wıllıng to share!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can be pretty entertaining and am great at listening, and over the last 15 years of traveling, I've gotten very good at reading a situation. When it calls for being social, I'm happy to swap stories and ideas, but I'm also perfectly happy entertaining myself (usually with a good book) when that's what's called for. (I also love listening to live music and/or spinning fire, so that's always an option too)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Colombia, France, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, United States