CURRENT MISSION

I am currently skiing the season in Hokkaido but hope to explore Japan during the three months that I am here as well!

As a traveler I like to stray from the beaten path and experience my time as authentically as possible.

ABOUT ME

I have been traveling solo intermitantly (everything from 1 year to 2 weeks) for the last 8 years. I am passionate about our environment and work in renewable energy. Although I grew up on an island off Florida I am German-American. I'm also vegetarian.

I am a free-spirited person who enjoys meeting people, trying new things, and enjoying favorite pastimes. I am happy doing pretty much anything!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far I have gone to a number of Couchsurfing events; beer crawls, karaoke, clubbing, swing dancing, and hopefully many more experiences to come!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfing is great! Especially if you like to travel alone, it is a way to meet people in the area you are staying and learn about the culture from a non-touristic perspective.

Interests

A bit of a nerd, I enjoy learning about unfamiliar issues and cultures and gaining new perspectives. I am passionate about the environment and human and animal rights. I routinely close out the dance floor; easiest way for me to find my happy place. I am also an outdoorswoman and an athlete.

Most importantly, I love life, the environment, and all living things.

• animals
• culture
• dancing
• environment
• beer
• vegetarian
• athlete
• partying
• clubbing
• traveling
• socializing
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Not a huge movie person; grew up without a TV and a family that was too poor to go to the movies. However, I do enjoy film. Recently I've enjoyed Victoria and The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window.

Music:
All. Currently dancing to a lot of deep house.

Books:
I devour books.
Fiction - must have a strong, independent heroine. (Tamora Pierce is the best!)
Non-Fiction - currently brushing up on my knowledge of the world. Current topics include Africa, the Middle East, and Feminism.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I value a lot of my experiences as "amazing." Today the one that comes to mind is finding my family's ancestral home in a secluded valley in the Czech Republic. It was taken from my family during WWII after they had tended the land there for over 700 years. My great-grandfather was an apple farmer, and the land had been apple orchards for many hundreds of years. As we hiked up a path through the undergrowth, we came upon an ancient apple tree that had been hit by lightning. Shortly thereafter, the path opened up onto fields where we found remnants of our ancestral home. =]

Teach, Learn, Share

I can offer hosts an easygoing couchsurfer who is eager to learn from other's life experiences and willing to share her own and is willing to try anything new (as long as it's vegetarian.) =] I can teach people how to sew, do carpentry, improve their English, how to start a dance party in an empty bar...

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Panama, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Japan, United States