CURRENT MISSION

To combine my love of working with animals with my love of traveling, and animal lovers make the best travel companions if I may say so myself!

ABOUT ME

Basically I spend my days cramming my cranium with sweet sciencey goodness so I can get paid to do what I already do for free.

Ultimately the goal, the precipice, the summation of all my effort and energy is to become a veterinarian, and donate whatever time and resources I have in that capacity towards animal rescue and wildlife conservation.

I come from a small town, village, place in Northern NJ, up in the "mountains"... (living in Colorado has made me ashamed to even refer to the hills of my homeland as such). I've spent most of my summers days in a kayak and summer nights at dockside BBQ's, that's how we live it up in Ringwood, the Town of Lakes (oh and if you catch Catching Fire in theaters you'll totally get to check it out... because they filmed all the "Seam" scenes in Ringwood State Park.) Home's as close as you can come to a version of The Shire in the US, and I definitely felt like a bumbling stammering Bilbo Baggins after leaving it at 18 for Fort Collins Colorado.

I love hiking, camping, and wildlife which is why I choose to go to college in Colorado. I've got to say, I've met some of the craziest people out here and I love them all dearly.

I have a talent for planning some pretty cool stuff, every summer I make it my goal to see at least 1 concert out of state so me and some fellow adventurers can make a roadtrip of it, and do some local camping/hiking in the days before and after the show.

I'm not so much of a destination traveler, I prefer staying at one place for a good amount of time before moving on. It is my dream to be able to afford to WWOOF through a couple different countries such as Spain, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Croatia, and through South America and SE Asia. My ideal trip surrounds four main quintessential cultural experiences....

1. laid back people
2. good food
3. good music
4. basking in the beauty of the great outdoors

That's why leapfrogging from farm to farm, and family to family is my ideal form of travel.

When I'm not hiking, working with animals or studying I love cooking. Varieties of stir-fry, pasta, and toasted sandwiches are my specialty, and I also make a mean breakfast. I look forward to getting a real job (firstly so I can travel) but secondly so I CAN COOK without being restrained to a budget.

PHILOSOPHY

If I'm to give any-one-thing credit for my adventurous spirit it boils down to my Catholic upbringing Although I am no longer adhered to any specific belief-system I have a strong sense of providence, grace, the hand of a loving force guiding me through life. Allowing me to face the world with a little less fear and a little more courage.

In that mindset I view every person, place, and experience that comes my way as a gift. And in turn, I work my hardest to also be a gift to every person, place and experience I encounter. Because life should be lived as a continuous exchange of love, what better way to describe the music, art, literature, relationships, ans food we create and celebrate together?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Ummmm couch sharing... mutualistic symbiosis?

Interests

Animals (biology, behavior, ecology etc.)
Hiking
Bouldering
Camping
Cooking
Kayaking/Canoeing/Rowing
Drawing
Painting
Singing
Music
Creating
Traveling
Reading
Theology
Being a Gandalf and taking people for a wild ride.
Nerding out over Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Firefly, Dr. Who ...and then some.

• animals
• dogs
• wildlife
• fish
• arts
• literature
• singing
• beauty
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• bbq
• walking
• gardening
• trivia
• reading
• traveling
• eating out
• animal care
• painting
• drawing
• bouldering
• music
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• hiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• camping
• rock climbing
• rowing
• lacrosse
• biology
• divinity
• ecology
• history
• volunteering
• wwoof
• parks
• lakes
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Here's a smattering of my culture favorites:

Music: Mumford and Sons, Josh Ritter, The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, Johnny Flynn, The Black Keys, Head and the Heart, Fleet Foxes, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Billy Joel, Modest Mouse, Led Zeppelin, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jack White, Alt J, Cat Stevens, Of Monsters and Men

Books: Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire Series, Millennium Series, East of Eden, Spillover, Harry Potter series, anything by Neil Gaimen

Movies: Lord of the Rings, Howl's Moving Castle, Moulin Rouge, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Into the Wild, Hocus Pocus, A Knight's Tale, Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare in Love, Zombieland, Little Manhatten, Dead Poets Society

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Last summer as I road-tripped home from Colorado I had the awesome experience of joining in on a traditional Cherokee marriage game by the name of "Fish". The object of the game is to hit a fish nestled at the top of a 30 ft pole with a small rock (analogically speaking this is your touchdown/goal). The men must use tiny lacrosse sticks to accomplish this challenge, while the ladies get to use their hands... the gender bias continues. Men must be perfect gentlemen to the ladies during the game, however the ladies are allowed to hit, pinch, kick, punch, bite and commit all number of atrocities to the men during the game.

What can be the point of such a brutal game one may ask? Well, I did mention this is a marriage game, and it is played to test the willpower and chivalry of the groom and his friends... if they fail to impress the match (marriage and game) can be called off.

In the end I got to take home two broken toes, a collection of bruises, and a mind full of hilarious memories worth a lifetime of inside jokes!

Teach, Learn, Share

All kinds of biology nerdiness
Cooking
Painting
Permaculture
Domestic and Wildlife Animal Care
Music
Limitless local flora and fauna trivia
Love learning about obscure local history
Can pitch a tent and drive anywhere in any weather
I am convinced there's a special part of my mind dedicated to solely memorizing song lyrics

What I Can Share with Hosts

My boundless energy and help! If you want to do some yard work or gardening, painting, construction projects, cooking, dog walking, (or any work with animals) and any volunteering in your community I am your girl!

I'm also a trivia wiz so add me to your bar trivia team!

US National Parks, Colorado, and New York City Trip Planning Advice!

I can paint/craftify any animate or inanimate object!