CURRENT MISSION

Experience Icelandic culture with my partner Michelle

ABOUT ME

We are geologists and graduate students living in Edmonton, Alberta. We love traveling and making new friends, and think that countries are best experienced through meeting locals. Whenever we host traveling friends, we give it our all to show them our town and country, often finding ourselves doing brand new things that we had never do in our day to day lives! Those are the experiences that we hope to get by couchsurfing ourselves.

Michelle and I are interested in all types of outdoor adventures, but we also like the city scene especially trying new types of food and drinking local beer/wine. We are nature lovers - we do lots of skiing (both downhill and cross-country) and we love canoeing, camping and hiking. In Iceland we are especially interested in experiencing the rural culture and the farm lifestyle, so we are hoping to find a farmstay where we can help with the chores and animals! And of course, we are really excited to see all the geologic wonders that Iceland has to offer.

PHILOSOPHY

“Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should be so. Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of your food, your closet full of your clothes -- with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That's not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating.”
― Michael Crichton, Travels

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I grew up with an open door policy in my house, so hosting is natural for me! I have a history of taking in travelers/foreigners for Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations at my house. Its just a part of how my family operates!

I've hosted with my sister Lisa on several occasions. We had people surfers from Quebec, Germany and Belgium. A few of my friends host often and I enjoy going out and learn about where they are from.

Mich and I are thinking about hosting once we are settled into our new place, but are hoping to try our hand a surfing first!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I haven't had the chance to surf yet! I'm really excited because I love hitch-hiking, and I think CouchSurfing will be a similar kind of adventure. Traveling is always best when shared!

Interests

Being immersed in new cultures and languages!
Sustainable cooking/eating
Camping
Hiking
Photography
Ice and rock climbing
Surfing
Snowboarding/Downhill Skiing
Cross-country skiing
Bird watching (Michelle loves ducks)
Looking at rocks
Yoga
Squash
Dance

• animals
• birds
• culture
• photography
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• yoga
• running
• drinking
• clothing
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• canoeing
• camping
• surfing
• skiing
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• racquetball
• history
• languages
• hitchhiking
• squash

Music, Movies, and Books

Trampled by Turtles, Of Monsters and Men, Wool on Wolves, The Cat Empires, Dispatch, Great Big Sea, Mother Mother

The Grand Budapest Hotel was a great one that we saw recently.

I read a lot of novels on Arctic Canadian History, Adventure books like "Into Thin Air", Michael Crichton books, and I enjoy Sci/fi and Fantasy.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In Australia, I worked for a traveling circus for a couple weeks. One night the pony's got out of there enclosure, and I had to chase them down the streets of Ballina, a small town in New South Wales. I couldn't run because I was laughing too hard.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can clap with one hand and I'm okay at handstands. I am an amateur photographer who would love any tips on photography, or am happy to teach what I know. Both of us are keen to learn new languages - I love any opportunity to practice my French and Michelle is always looking for a Slovak/Czech/Polish-speaking friend!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Laos, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Slovakia, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada