About me... I feel that I am living a bit of an unconventional life, especially compared to my friends and colleagues. The high school -> university -> career track never interested me.... When am I supposed to explore the world and discover more of myself if I always stay on the same track!? I graduated in 2020 from a small but well regarded school in New England and instead of pursuing a career in my degree I immediately began working in jobs and doing hobbies that I was passionate about: cooking, farming, activism, herbalism, and hairstyling just to name a few. My perspective on life is that everything is a learning experience and that learning should be done for the sake of developing the self, not for some financial goals. I thoroughly enjoyed my degree in Sociology because it taught me a lot about people, cultures, politics, and history, and it was a pleasure to spend 4 years of university deeply diving into those topics.

Travel has been an undeniably foundational part of my development as a person. While in school I studied sociology and anthropology; in travel I learned about cultures and people through experiencing them! I think that human connection is at the root of great travel, and I feel that I have been able to experience the pleasure of meeting new people and seeing new perspectives both abroad and close to home. When you have the mindset of curiosity and wonder, I think that it is possible to get a "travel"-like experience just by exploring a town nearby that you have never been to!

I am a libra and that means that social connections are extremely important to me. The most valued connections I have in my life are my friends and my family. I have two sisters, I the middle, and the three of us are quite close. It is truly a blessing to grow, develop, learn, and move through life with them. My parents are lovely and though sometimes they don't understand why I choose to live my life the way I do (haha!), they are generally very supportive of me and I am grateful for their trust in me. My friends feel at times closer than lovers! To truly know and be known by a dear friend is one of the most beautiful experiences that a person can have in their lifetime. My friends have seen me through the good and the bad, and I feel grateful to be there for them as they navigate life challenges as well. I cherish the friends I have had and lost, the friends that have stuck with me, and the many friends I have yet to meet!

Anything else you might want to know, just ask!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I’m on couch surfing because I think that in order to get to know a place you have to get to know the local ways of life. And the best way to do that is to *experience* how real people really live. I love the aspect of meeting locals, sharing resources and time together, and just exchanging thoughts, opinions, points of view, ideas, and dreams together. I think it's a really unique way to get in touch with a place that you are visiting and I have valued my experiences on this site a lot! I also love the little details of seeing how people set up and decorate their apartments, what preparing and eating dinner at home entails, whether someone has lots of contact with their neighbors or none at all, etc etc. These little details aren't something you think of at first, but they can truly reveal a lot about the similarities and differences between my own culture and the culture that I am visiting! And I just love people, so I'm always down to make a new friend.

Interests

• architecture
• fashion
• dancing
• cooking
• live music
• hiking
• swimming
• nature
• social justice
• the ocean
• veganism
• the sea
• environmental justice
• the sun
• art museums
• anarchism
• drag
• makeup
• hair
• black lives matter
• palestine
• anticapitalism
• gays
• history museums

Music, Movies, and Books

I think I could enjoy any type of music if I saw it live. I love witnessing performance. In my own headphones I often listen to girl pop, hyper pop, classic rock, dad rock, motown, rap, soul, classical.... probably a lot more than that I'm bad at naming genres!

Love to read! I read a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. I enjoy critical race theory, social theory, anticapitalist theory, as well as romance and stream of consciousness type novels. Always happy to talk about the books we are each reading!

Movies... honestly I feel that movies and tv shows are an area that I would like to grow my knowledge/experience! I love Miyazaki films (Spirited Away is my favorite). Stuff like Possession, Mandy, Jennifer's Body, Eternal Sunshine are some of my favs. Just watched Poor Things! That was great. In terms of TV shows I like Fleabag a lot, enjoyed Big Little Lies, can't go wrong with some classic Spongebob Squarepants. Give me recommendations! Maybe we can watch something together.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Loved and cherished my family and friends

Teach, Learn, Share

So much! I don't have my supplies with me, but if you have a good pair of scissors I can give you an at home haircut. I can tell you about the climate initiatives I've learned about both locally and abroad. I can make you feel like the best version of yourself if we get ready together for a night out. I can help you process your feelings about stuff that might be confusing and hard!

What I Can Share with Hosts

a smile :)
And a whole lot more, depends on what we’ll be doing while I’m there!

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Canada, India, Italy, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States