We're Dan, Jacqui, Ollie and Milla. A family of four from Australia - mid thirties (wow when did that happen!), 14 and 11 at the time of writing.

We're brand new to Couchsurfing, and hope to find a few hosts along our travels though we completely understand that this will be more difficult with four of us.

We got married and had kids fairly young, and eventually found ourselves working in jobs we didn't enjoy - Dan working fourteen hour days, Jacqui working weekends, yet we found we had little desire in trying to keep up with the Jones' in a material sense, and found our work kept us from doing what we really enjoyed - spending time with the kids, getting outdoors and travelling.

We were working on saving a home deposit, but in the end we didn't want to buy into Melbourne's absurdly overpriced property market.

Realising we didn't place much value on material things, we started a process of decluttering - selling or giving away anything we didn't use and get real value out of. This was incredibly freeing!

After some solid research into schooling online, working out budgets and potential future income sources, we bought four one-way airfares, sold our cars and everything we own, and took off travelling indefinitely!

We try to experience the world and give our kids an education that can't be gained within a classroom.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

One of the major goals of our travels is to connect with people. In the past we've found that our most memorable experiences have been hanging out with locals in Cuba, or making friends with an eccentric publican in Istanbul, rather than nice hotels and tourist haunts.

We hope to do some Couchsurfing along the way for a few reasons - to make friends, experience life from the perspective of a resident, and share experiences and stories, and to help our kids gain a greater understanding of a town or country than they would if we were staying in a guesthouse or hotel.

A stay here or there would also allow us to stretch our budget a little further and sustain our travels which while not our main motivation would certainly help!

Interests

We all like to get outdoors and camp or hike, all enjoy experiencing new things though Milla is a little less adventurous (she'll have to grow out of that quickly!)

Jacqui likes reading, music, food and beaches, and loves to be around water (though she's deathly afraid of sharks!)

Dan loves to experience new cultures and foods, research things in depth and kick back with a book at the end of a long day.

Ollie is into computer games, sport and started to get pretty good at guitar before we went away. He is adventurous with everything in life and is very empathetic.

Milla is happiest when she is drawing or doing something creative, and loves to laugh when Dad does something silly. She also likes reading and singing (but don't let that put you off !) :)

• writing
• books
• singing
• education
• dining
• wine
• working out
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• drawing
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• sports
• teaching
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Too many and varied to count, though Dan is partial to the Blues, Jacqui secretly doesn't mind the occasional chick flick, Ollie is a voracious reader when given a prod to get off the computer, and Milla made sure we all knew the songs on Frozen backwards but has since moved on to Rachel Platten and Adelle.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sold everything we own and given up our careers in order to travel.

Teach, Learn, Share

Dan and Ollie are learning Spanish, and Jacqui and Milla have chosen French.

We can help if anyone is learning English, and even teach you to shorten words like a true Aussie!

We would love to share our experiences and learn about others, and would love to learn about the nuances of different cultures in depth.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories and experiences, conversation and a glass of wine! If you have the time and desire, we would love the opportunity to get to know you better, and to learn more about your country, and to share accordingly.

Our kids are polite and resilient, and although they can be a little shy at first sometimes, they soon open up. We would be particularly thrilled to stay with or meet anyone with children of similar ages.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia