CURRENT MISSION

To Chill Out and Enjoy Life

ABOUT ME

I was interviewed about Couchsurfing on BBC Radio York! Horray! https://soundcloud.com/joe-burnham-1/bbc-radio-york-katie-and-joe

I find it difficult to describe myself - where do you start!? I grew up in England and the United States, being home-schooled most of that time. When I was 14, I moved back to the U.K. for good. I currently live in Norwich, working part time, and spending the rest of the time drinking coffee and doing silly projects.

I love writing, both fiction and non-fiction, and I have a huge passion for music; I've been playing the guitar for ten years, and I'm always recording the occasional song with friends.

Right now I spend my time making posters, taking pictures, and doing lots of random things in the world of theatre.

I've couchsurfed a few times before, but hosted a lot more people when I lived in York. I've always LOVED the experience, and I've even been interviewed on the radio about it - no idea how! I think Couchsurfing reaffirms my belief that the world is generally a pretty lovely place and we shouldn't be so scared of one another.

TO POTENTIAL SURFERS:

I love meeting all sorts of people, and everyone is very welcome, whether it's individuals or couples (and completely LGBTQ+ etc welcome!).

I take safeguarding very seriously. Hosts who try to flirt or anything else with their guests are TERRIBLE and don't belong anywhere near this site!

PHILOSOPHY

My personal philosophy is probably that life is beautiful, and you can discover that beauty at any time. I don't want to travel to 'find myself', because I feel like I find myself a little bit each day during life's most routine moments. Instead, I want to engage with people from different cultures/worlds, and perhaps get a better idea of where our collective global consciousness is heading.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I want to participate by taking part in the ongoing discussions and meeting fellow surfers! I also love to talk about different cultures, sharing stories and experiences.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Stayed with three different hosts while in France, all of which have been amazing! I've helped to host plenty of people too, and always had a fantastic time. Life can get pretty surreal when you couchsurf, and that's part of the fun really.

Interests

As I mentioned before, I love playing guitar. I've been writing/performing songs for the past few years, recording under the name Good Christian Girl. You can listen to some of my recorded stuff here:
www.Goodchristiangirl.bandcamp.com

In addition, I love writing. I've written zillions of little articles for student press, along with a few for bigger magazines, and I've always got creative writing projects on the go; recently most of my writing has been in the form of interviewing bands (latest was the Brian Jonestown Massacre, in case you're a fan!). I love writing poetry, too, although I'm much less likely to show anyone!

• writing
• poetry
• beauty
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• swimming
• rivers

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: I don't even know where to start! I love Trainspotting, American Beauty, Fight Club, Back to the Future, DiG!, A Beautiful Mind, Breakfast on Pluto, Man on the Moon, Adaptation, Pleasantville, Vanilla Sky, Memento...

Music:
Air, Blind Melon, Belle & Sebastian, Radiohead, Simon and Garfunkel, Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Sufjan Stevens, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel, Manic Street Preachers, Nirvana, Jay Reatard, Godspeed You! Black Emp, Green Day, Dandy Warhols, The Cure, Elliott Smith, Built to Spill, The Distillers, Amanda Palmer, Spiritualized, Malcolm Middleton, Los Campesinos!, Apples in Stereo, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, I'm From Barcelona, Sigur Ros, My Bloody Valentine, My Bloody Valentine, REM, Dave Brubeck, ... and that's probably enough for now!

Books: Too impossible to begin! Besides, if I started listing them I’d be worried that I’ve read far fewer than I like to think I have.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This is a difficult one, although I’d probably say it was swimming in Pennsylvania’s rivers which ran through the mountain woods near where I used to live. I remember it being spectacularly beautiful and uniquely calming.

Teach, Learn, Share

I’m more than happy to teach the guitar if I have it with me, or jam alongside you if you play something else. I can also teach Photoshop if you have a desire to learn it :)

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Tunisia

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States

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