Hi there!
My name is Isabelle and the sun was shining a lot for me ever since I was born, so I am a happy and optimistic person and I'd rather smile than not.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The world is big and has so many beautiful places to offer, enough for a whole lifetime and more. But it's not only the places but the people who make these places and experiences so special - that's why I'm on Couchsurfing.

Interests

There's hardly anything that I cannot excite myself about and if someone is passionate about something he will most likely infect me with it too :)

And I'm very interested in science, physics, space flights, biology, physiology, geophysics, volcanism, pretty much everything that helps explain and understand our planet. I work as a physician in anesthesiology and my job is more than just a job for me - I keep meeting all kind of people every day and I keep learning fascinating things about our body and how it works, I really love it!

In my free time, I love being in or at the water, swimming or diving, recently I started rowing too. I especially love the sea - I could stand there for hours only watching the waves, these are the simple but joyful moments while traveling for me. But I also enjoy the mountains and hiking to quiet places very much, I love the view from above and rock climbing (if the rock is not super high and scary!).

And then there's of course music - I play the piano and sing way too loud while driving. Probably not good, but definitely fun!

• animals
• singing
• cooking
• chocolate
• vegan
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• piano
• hiking
• scuba diving
• sports
• motor sports
• swimming
• rowing
• languages
• medicine
• food
• nature
• ballet
• sea
• diving
• climbing
• free diving
• sharks
• rockclimbing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I used to say I listened to everything but metal until I started listening to metal. Now, my spotify algorithm has to work with my top artists being In Flames, the Backstreet Boys and Beethoven, good luck!
Favorite songs: all along the watchtower, move on up

Books: thrillers, the alchemist and literally every book on mountaineering in the Himalaya

Movies: my preferences can be reduced to one denominator called Tom Hanks.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling to the rainforest in Ghana in a Trotro filled with 25 people although meant for 9 and a sliding door that didn´t close properly. But it worked and I still remember standing under these huge trees in the dark forest and hear the sound of heavy rain falling on the leaves on top - it was where my passion for traveling started, without any fear or overthinking, just exploring and seeing where I ended up, without even speaking a decent English. Still a bit impressed by my 18 year old self.

Climbing Acatenango and watching the eruptions of Fuego volcano in Guatemala. I was so impressed that I couldn't close my mouth for as long as I watched it - which was two entire days.

Staying in a floating house on a lake in Thailand, surrounded by wild elephants

Aaand last but not least: taking a bath in a frozen lake - and not only once!

Teach, Learn, Share

Learn: new languages, cook different dishes
(I love food and I love talking and can't stand not being able to do so because I don't speak the language - I´m always happy to learn at least a few words in the mother tongue of the people I meet)

Teach: a bit of German and how to cook some delicious vegan food

Share: our traveling experiences

What I Can Share with Hosts

Enthusiastic conversations about the world and a lot of travel stories

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Germany, Portugal