Fully vaccinated as of 5/27

I get bored easily and tend to go a bit stir crazy if I'm stuck in one spot for too long, so I'm always looking for new experiences. I want to see as much of the world as I possibly can.

Sometimes I can be quiet and introverted. Don't take it personally! I am genuinely interested in making new friends and meeting people from different cultures, but I don't always know what to say. Keeping a conversation going is a skill and it's one that I sometimes struggle with :/

I have been studying Russian on and off pretty much my entire life, but struggle with it. I actually lived in Kyiv for three months attempting to learn it but found that I'm not very confident in speaking or listening. I wouldn't mind finding a speaking partner but secretly fear embarassing myself!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To get it out of the way up front: Yes, part of the reason I use Couchsurfing is to save money. I live to travel but don't have a job to support that, so Couchsurfing/hitchhiking/camping are pretty much essential.

But

I also firmly believe that Couchsurfing is the best way to meet locals and experience a culture in a way that is impossible staying at hostels or hotels. I want to immerse myself in a place when I'm there - I want to talk to people, hear their stories, learn about their lives and their countries and there's no better way than through Couchsurfing. I want to see the world through the eyes of others!

Interests

• traveling
• experiencing new things

Music, Movies, and Books

My tastes are pretty diverse. As far as music goes I tend to like a lot of weird, experimental stuff (Einsturzende Neubauten, Coil, Nurse With Wound, Tom Waits) but listen to a lot of synthpop, punk, and post punk too. Really, pretty much anything.

My favorite films are probably In Bruges and Stay, which are pretty much as different from one another as you can possibly get. Some of my favorite directors are Martin McDonagh, David Croneburg, David Lynch, Charlie Kaufman, and Andrei Tarkovsky. The Northman is probably the best movie I've seen in the last year in theaters.

I don't read as much as I would like to. My two favorite books are House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan, which I sincerely believe should be required reading in school. I also just recently discovered The Expanse and have been waiting on the edge of my proverbial seat for book 9 since I finished Tiamat's Wrath.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Riding in an open iron ore train 750km or so across the Sahara desert at night

Cycling 2,400 miles from New York to South Dakota

Riding around 1,000 miles in the back of a pickup truck with three other people up to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska

Hitchhiking just under 6,000 miles from Odessa, Ukraine to Tbilisi, Georgia

What I Can Share with Hosts

Endless travel stories I guess, though honestly I'm more interested in hearing your story than in telling my own!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Western Sahara

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ukraine, United States