CURRENT MISSION

Balancing a stressful career and a young child while still managing to travel and have adventures!

ABOUT ME

Elle is South African, but has grown up and lived in several countries and is a bit of a global nomad. Joe is English (but would call himself European if people didn't keep laughing at the idea).

Elle is a lecturer of globalisation and development with a focus on African and Asian politics. Joe is working in European online politics and social media. Clara is 2 years old and is working on learning as much as she can while looking at cute as a button. We all moved to Maastricht a year and a half ago and are enjoying settling into life in the Netherlands.

PHILOSOPHY

Too much to share in such a small space, so we'd have to discuss it over a beer. :-)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We've surfed and hosted in loads of countries (and enjoyed every minute so far)! Plus we always like meeting fellow couchsurfers for a beer, party or coffee wherever we are.

We haven't used CS since we had Clara, but are interested in getting back into things and seeing how Couchsurfing works out with a toddler in tow.

Interests

Hobbies: hanging out with friends around the world, reading, cooking (and eating) new food, watching theatre/film/dance/etc, travel and hiking.

Interests: global politics, Asia, Europe, history, culture, society--lots of things!

• culture
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• meditation
• partying
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• communications
• history

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Appeared (briefly) in a Bollywood movie, sledded down the Great Wall of China in a spade, traveled around the world by ship in 101 days, met Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, eloped in Bangkok, endured a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation as part of our Honeymoon, interviewed the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, slept in a Borneo jungle, sailed off the coast of East Africa in a dhow at sunset...ask us for more. :-)

Countries I’ve Visited

Barbados, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Zimbabwe

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