CURRENT MISSION

Helping things grow and life to thrive in many forms!

ABOUT ME

All about me, eh? How about "All about my mother" which was such a great Almodovar movie, right? Yes it was. Anyway, I'll keep this about me since my mother won't be couch surfing with me (as much as I try to convince her, she says she's "too old" for that stuff, which I think both you and I know is never true! ;) I plan to be surfing & hosting until my last breath! (Though said breath will hopefully not be taken at a host's place so as not to inconvenience anyone...)
Alright. I'm a traveler. That is what I do and know how to do best- travel, absorb, share, learn (lanuages), and it's what I've been doing since my family moved to France when I was a young kid, then to Mexico a few years later. Needless to say I learned how to make new friends quickly and how to cherish those special friendships throughout the years, despite distances. Many years of magical mind blowing explorations later, I find myself back in australia (after 6 months in Kununurra, Western Australia- northwest middle of nowhere- working on the preservation and revitalization of an aboriginal language called Miriwoong). Now I'm on my way back to OZ to travel and work and meditate my way through the east, down to Tasmania, then eventually over to New Zealand and hopefully up to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, & Vietnam before finally moving back to the gorgeous forests of cascades, the Pacific Northwest of the USA in the spring of 2015 - for 7 whole years! There I'll be building an earthship/Eco-contruction to be my home/art centre and hopefully a community for friends (couchsurfers included of course) to visit & create & contribute & learn & love for years to come!

visited 53 states (23.5%)Create your own visited map of The World or Brazil travel guide for Android

I have dual-citizenship. The first is from the USA, where I was born and lived for some of my youth, and the second is from Slovenia, the country of my grandfather's origins where I was fortunate to live for a year when I was 23. I was more than lucky to grow up between the green, beautiful city of Seattle, USA, the enchanted cobblestone village of St. Paul de Vence, France, and the sweet beaches of Sayulita, Mexico- all of which are home to me. After I left home as a teenager I spent at least a year living in each of the following countries: Russia, Brazil, Germany, sLOVEnia and Paraguay, as well as a at least a month in each of the following countries: Chile, Argentina, Cuba, India, Nepal, Italy, Spain, Bolivia, Peru, and Israel.

At University I studied linguistics & foreign languages/literatures in the following cities: Guadalajara, Mexico; Portland, USA; St. Petersburg, Russia; Munich, Germany and Ljubljana, sLOVEnia. I've gotten around the world by teaching foreign languages, WWOOFING (working on organic farms abroad), working at several hostels and volunteering at orphanages in several countries. Some of my favorite things to do in life is share language, dance, music, theater, culture & all kinda of art with people all around the world.

I try to (but don't always) begin the day by meditating (I've done the 10 day Vipassana meditation course about 8 times) Visit www.dhamma.org for more info if you're interested. I can't recommend it enough! I enjoy getting some yoga or running in too. For many years of my life my main form of transportation has been my bike since I never have a car when I'm abroad. What else? Oh yea, i don't drink alcohol and I am queer :)

PHILOSOPHY

"One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things." - Henry Miller

"Man did not weave the web of life; He is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
-Chief Seattle

"Truth is the shattered mirror strewn in myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own." - Sir Richard Francis Burton

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Every time I've surfed and hosted, its been a really great experience and I've learned so much and shared amazing experience with the talented and fascinating couchsurfers I've met! Since I'm often on the road, I've surfed more than I've hosted, but I love both sides of the coin. I've participated in several CS meet ups in Brazil, Germany, and Paraguay, always enjoying the company, which I hope to continue in Australia in 2014.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It gives meaning to the saying "A stranger's just a friend you haven't met." :)

Interests

Everything in the alphabet from accordions to zebras.. and much more in between... especially, instruments, singing, LGBTQ rights, animal rights. everyone's rights!

• animals
• arts
• culture
• singing
• theater
• dancing
• capoeira
• yoga
• running
• meditation
• drinking
• gardening
• boating
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• cycling
• surfing
• languages
• tourism
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Shantaram!, Chomsky, Garcia Marquez, Orhan Pamuk, Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Tolstoy, Maria Elena de la Selva (my mom's penname)

Movies:
Das Leben der Anderen (The lives of others. Germany 2006), Sladke Sanje (Sweet Dreams. Slovenia 2001)
Many documentary and activist movies

Music: Feist, Cibelle, Os mutantes, Chico Buarque, The league of Crafty Guitarist, Kusturica & the No Smoking orchestra..

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-training across Siberia in the cold russian winter...
-hitchhiking across Cuba in the hot caribean summer..
-bussing/hitching across Mexico, my home, several times...
-travelling up and down Chile, spending christmas with the indigenous Mapuche tribe...
-another christmas and new years in 10 day silent meditation course in the Czech Republic, so not knowing what day it was...
-Crossing the Andes from chile into Argentina to work on an organic farm...
-boating from Spain to Morocco to visit local friends who took me across the desert to the mountains to soak in natural hotsprings.
-travelling to Nepal to visit the town where Buddha was born, Lumbini, staying there in the temples to meditate several weeks, then to India to visit where he died, feeling an amazing presence....
-living in a Favela in Rio de Janeiro, working with street kids, for a couple months....
-volunteering in an orphanage in Kathmandu with amazing children...
-going back to my roots in slovenia, living for a year near my relatives in ljubljana (and getting Slovenian citizenship)...
-living almost entirely off the land as a beekeeper and organic farmer in Paraguay for almost 3 years i(with the peace corps) very challenging yet the most rewarding experience with countless memories...

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach: living/raw sprouted foods, organic gardening, plenty of foreign languages, yoga, and more...
I want to learn: Anything you want to share! I want to improve my Capoeira skills, and also learn the following instruments: Accordion, guitar, harmonica, etc. And new languages I don't know are always welcome!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, Russian Federation, Slovenia, United States

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