I have been fortunate to travel the world, mostly thanks to the sport of unicycling. I met my husband, Andy, while training for a unicycle pairs routine when I was 17, and after five years of long distance dating (I studied at the University of Washington in Seattle, he lived on a farm in Hutchinson, Minnesota) we got married in our farm's barn. We have traveled all over the world to attend National and International Unicycling Competitions as well as participate in long distance unicycle tours.

We took a break from unicycling to start a certified organic fruit farm, farming from 2010-2019. We grew apples, pears, table grapes (25 varieties!), raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and seaberries.

I love learning about health and did several yoga trainings, completing my 500 hour yoga certification. I learned about Ayurveda (traditional medicine system from India) through the training and decided to do a one year intensive at the Minnesota Institute of Ayurveda, graduating in 2018 with my Ayurveda Health Counselor Certificate. I taught yoga for several years in our small town of Hutchinson, MN.

Our daughter, Ani, was born in 2014. My husband continued to telecommute from the farm for General Mills doing IT work. With our organic fruit business growing, and our daughter, and not enough hours in the day, we decided to make a change in our life sold the farm in 2019. We sold the contents of our farm, downsized (we kept about 25 large Rubbermaid totes of stuff, plus our beds in my parents home) and are traveling. Andy continues to telecommute for General Mills, and I am homeschooling our daughter. We travel with our bicycles (yes, two wheels this time), making a point of trying to exercise wherever we are.

I love cooking, I eat dairy-free, so this is helpful as many dishes contain cheese, butter, or milk. I used to be the main farm chef, feeding visitors, our employees, and ourselves. I love sharing recipes, sourcing local foods when possible, and sharing meals with others. Our daughter is also becoming an excellent cook.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We love meeting new people. Recently we've read some blogs about people couch surfing with families and it seems like a wonderful way to make new connections and learn about the cities that we are visiting.

Interests

• cooking
• yoga
• meditation
• bicycling
• cook
• ayurveda
• homeschooling
• unicycling
• cooking and baking
• yoga and meditation
• yoga nidra
• cooking and eating
• cooking with friends
• cooking together

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Movies: The Greatest Showman, The Sound of Music

Favorite Music: Dido, Michael Shynes, Bad Bad Heat, Jeremy Messersmith, Soundtrack to the Greatest Showman

Favorite children's books: The Bad Mood and the Stick by: Lemony Snicket, and any book by Mo Willems,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Early Twenties: I rode 100 miles in one day on my unicycle around Lake Tahoe as a part of a bicycle ride called "The World's Most Beautiful Bicycle Ride"

Early Thirties: Hosting a Barn Concert Series with the Bad Bad Hats and helping prepare 70 pizza dough balls for baking in our wood fired oven.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to do yoga with others, sharing ideas for meditating, and swapping recipes.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to help cook, help with household things, clean, share knowledge about Ayurveda and offer tips for keeping your body in balance.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States