CURRENT MISSION

the island of Rhodes + cute car + Court = sprintime heaven (ie bi-winning!)

ABOUT ME

Ah, I find it hard objectively describe myself, so I've been avoiding this, but... Here we go: I'm from a small town in on the south central coast of Alaska, and while I love it, always dreamt of other lands. So when I was 16 I headed off to study in Argentina for a year as an exchange student, and since haven't hardly been able to stay in any one place longer than a few months (excepting my time at school). I took a year off before starting college to see as much of the world as I could with one of my best friends, and now I'm studying psychology and arts at Reed (with a brief semester at UCC in Cork). I love travelling more than anything. It is the ultimate freedom. But when I'm not on the move I usually keep pretty quiet, enjoying my friends, my horse, hiking, and my books...

visited 24 states (10.6%)Create your own visited map of The World

PHILOSOPHY

I've been asking myself that question for a long time now... Maybe, don't ever let yourself feel trapped -- there's always another choice.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Well, right now I'm new to this and looking to learn my way about, aided by willing couch-givers; and in a few months when I'm back in Portland I'll be returning the favor.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've just started couchsurfing this spring in Norway and had a lovely time of it. Now I'm hoping to host in the Portland area this fall, meet some amazing people, and earn some more CS karma :D

Interests

Oh my goodness. Traveling, backpacking, horses, hedgehogs, hiking, books, my car (I love driving so much, I'm so bad, I can't help it) -- so, road trips, running, camping, and so on. I'll do this part later.

• horses
• arts
• books
• running
• boating
• traveling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• psychology
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Hmm, so when I travel I like to read as much local literature as I can (what can I say?), but for favorite books: Grendel, Wuthering Heights, Dune, Snow Falling on Cedars, Taming the Beast, Life of Pi (only after I finished it), The Bell Jar, Franny and Zooey, Sputnik Sweetheart, Norwegian Wood, The Name of the Wind, followed by The Wise Man's Fear, Wide Sargasso Sea...it goes on.

Unfortunately my book obsession left me with little time to listen to music, except in the car, and I therefore consider myself dreadfully inept here....I do love Jack Johnson, sound tracks/musicals and classic rock though.

Movies. Ah... Right now: Star Wars (always), Pride and Prejudice, The Last King of Scotland, Elsa and Fred, Dirty Dancing (the original of course), 27 Dresses (I'm obligating myself to tell the truth, regardless), 500 Days of Summer, Into the Wild, Serenity, Heights, Tristan and Isolde (though the original prose, to which it is not at all faithful, is much funnier)... And I love my sci-fi TV series: Firefly, Fringe, The X-Files, Farscape... Also, Dexter, of course.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Okay, this isn't particularly amazing, but we were on a transport boat to Ko Samet in Thailand, had gotten in quite late so it was pitch dark and hardly a light on the water except the island in the distance, and I remember watching the pinpoint stars and the wake of the boat rippling into blackness and the bright orange light of the cigarette tip of the man sitting across from me waving in the dark, beautiful, and briefly I was as contented as I've ever been.

Teach, Learn, Share

Something I learned from my dad, who has lived among women his whole life -- and we were often hard on him: when traveling, always try to be in good humor, even when you think it's going to kill you. Your companions will love you for it (as we loved him for it).

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Ireland, United States

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