I'm a journalist with an enduring passion for music, circus arts, books, and the outdoors. My partner and I moved to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to start a new life away from the city of London in 2015, before moving on to Buenos Aires to study masters degrees. I often write about human rights, politics and global development in Latin America.

CouchSurfer since 2009. Often, but not always, to be found in the company of my partner, Andy: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/andrew_parlane?action=show&controller=user_profiles
He uses this site less than me, but many of my references speak for both of us.

I'm vegan at home and vegetarian on the road. This means I don't eat any kind of meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc) or fish. I'm not preachy about it and I don't mind if you do, but it's probably useful to know.

I will probably try to speak your mother tongue, no matter what it is. This might seem like a nice thing, but then, so did that time when I tried to make beer soup.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing is a fundamentally different way of travelling from the standard backpacker trail. I would much rather be invited into someone's home, or invite someone into my home, and really learn about how they see their home town, than hear someone talk about how many days you should spend at the Salar de Uyuni for the 100th time. I really care about deeply understanding other cultures and ways of life, and CS is great for that!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted:
Marlotte from the Netherlands, 1 night, Cambridge
Swapy from India, 3 nights, Acton (West London)
Laure from France, 3 nights, Acton (West London)
Arva and Antti from Finland, 2 nights, Acton (West London)
Maggie from the US, 3 nights, Wood Green (North London)
Jovan from Serbia, 3 nights, Wood Green (North London)
Sophie and Quentin from France, 2 nights, Wood Green (North London)

Surfed:
Jon, Asker, Norway
Alexandre and Claire, Brussels, Belgium (and I bumped into Claire again on a couch I was surfing in Iceland!)
Zoltan, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Gustav, Gothenburg, Sweden
Rene, Gothenburg, Sweden
Anders, Gothenburg, Sweden

Interests

Languages, politics, different cultures, feminism, trapeze, all manner of music, history, gigs, festivals, knitting, crochet, reading... Lots of things are interesting. Go on- try me!

• festivals
• cooking
• beer
• vegetarian
• politics
• reading
• socializing
• crochet
• knitting
• music
• history
• journalism
• languages
• feminism
• circo
• américa latina

Music, Movies, and Books

Films: Guillermo del Toro, Kevin Smith, Terry Gilliam. Hanna, Firefly, Spirited Away, Fermat's Room, Donnie Darko, The Matrix, The Men who Stare at Goats, Videodrome. Otherwise... thought-provoking and quirky things. Films in foreign languages for the win.

Music: I really love music, especially especially rock, metal, classical, EBM, folk...

Books are just generally Interesting. Where am I supposed to start with THAT? I've been reading since I was about 5 or something. That's far too much reading to narrow it down to individual books. I try to read things in the original language as much as possible (ie if the original language was English, Spanish, German or French).

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good conversation!

I can also cook, clean, help you practice English if you like, and stay out of the way if you need some quiet time.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Bolivia, Germany, United Kingdom, Yemen

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