CURRENT MISSION

My personal mission is to live life with integrity, compassion, joy, and adventure while educating, empowering, and inspiring others to be their best, safest, and most powerful selves.

ABOUT ME

My first love is travel! I grew up with a family who was always on the move and it seemed to have stuck. I worked as a travel agent and travel school instructor for 13 years, then quit to have my son. After he was born (at home!) I helped found and became president of a natural health organization. When my son was 8, he started taekwondo, and I did, too, eventually becoming an instructor. My interest in self-defense began about this time and now I have written a book and teach personal safety seminars to women. During all of this, my son and I have traveled with my ex-husband on his frequent business trips to Europe and different cities in the States. I love the adventure of going somewhere new! I'm divorced now, and taking this year to do some long term international travel. I'm looking forward to meeting you!

PHILOSOPHY

Life is an adventure - take chances - live it!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm new to Couchsurfing and will share my experiences when they come! In the meantime, I've had great experiences with airbnb.com.

Interests

Travel, especially international travel, although there is no bad place. I enjoy yoga and walking, Combat Hapkido, movies and reading, and live music of all sorts. I'm a bit of a foodie and enjoy eating and cooking with fresh ingredients and love.

• books
• beauty
• cooking
• yoga
• instructor
• walking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• live music
• business

Music, Movies, and Books

I love the movies, all types, but my favorites are (in no particular order): Kill Bill, Love Actually, Shining Through, all of the Star Wars (yes, even the prequels), Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future.
Music - right now I'm in a pop song mood - Maroon 5, Train, etc., but I also like metal: Staind, Seether, and Avenged Sevenfold. I enjoy working to New Age music, enjoy classical music, jazz, folk, and oldies from the 70's. Live music of any sort is fantastic!
Books: Usually I read non-fiction books on how to make my life better and how to be able to be a better teacher, but I've just finished the Game Of Thrones series and loved it!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela - 500 miles in 32 days - loved meeting the fellow pilgrims - some who will be lifelong friends, learned the limitations of my body, had time to be alone amidst the beauty of northern Spain.
I've also swam with sharks in Belize, parasailed off a Swiss Alp, biked down Pike's Peak, walked the Great Wall of China, and ATV'd in Cozumel. Bali is my new favorite place and I'm looking at making Ubud my new home base for the next year or so. What's next on my adventure list?

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to defend yourself in a dangerous situation or chill you out with a yoga class.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Great conversation and yoga!

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

American Samoa