Hey! I'm an experience designer currently based in London.

The travel bug started at a tender early years, when I took my first plane with my dearly mother from Beijing to Madrid. This early memory scared the death off my 5-year-old-me but also opened my eyes to new smells, sounds, and ideas.

I hold the strong belief that people are genuinely kind. I aspire to help people around me realize their best selves and find happiness through mindfulness.

Advanced apologies for the shameless plug, I also keep a travel photojournal (yampurple.tumblr.com) and share how I view the world through Instagram (instagram.com/joo.un)!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I first joined Couchsurfing a few years ago. A friend of mine and I were both in college and were traveling around California for 3 weeks. With no expectations whatsoever, our first couchsurfing experience in San Francisco far exceeded anything we could imagine – our host had prepared a whole meal on our arrival and was generous enough to drive us around his favourite corners! His sheer kindness simply shook me!

I took a long hiatus from the Couchsurfing community, but have recently decided to come back and embrace the sharing culture fully. I look forward to making friends through respect and shared experience.

Interests

As a designer, I can't avoid but fanboy on the design, architecture and art arena. However I'm very fond of robotics, urban and food development, politics, film, literature, live music. And anything that overlaps these things.

• arts
• culture
• literature
• singing
• architecture
• design
• dancing
• dining
• politics
• traveling
• music
• live music

Music, Movies, and Books

In terms of good reads, I'd say my top picks would be Bestiario by Cortázar, and anything written by García Márquez and Murakami. There is indeed, something magical, about magical realism. Lately, I've been reading a lot about how technological advances impacts our cognitive abilities . I recommend "Glass Cage" by Nicholas Carr.

Choosing favourite music is extremely difficult, as it fluctuates with my mood. For cheerful yet melancholic mornings: Kings of Convenience and Death Cab for Cutie, Jose Gonzalez, or Andrew Bird. For some nice evening jams: Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack, or perhaps, if feeling like dancing, Jamie XX.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Dancing and singing with Tanzanian children under the night sky covered with thousands of visible stars and the full moon in the outskirts of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Teach, Learn, Share

- I can teach you Spanish (hola!)
- Whip up something delicious
- Rearrange your furniture in a more logical way.

I was joking about the furniture... but was I really? You can never trust a designer.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Great company and hopefully returning the favour if you ever visit London.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Hong Kong, Spain, United Kingdom, United States