I grew up in rural South Dakota, but I always had the travel bug. I left the country the first chance I got when I was 18. I used all the money I had earned the previous summer working at Dairy Queen to buy plane ticket to Hanoi, Vietnam. My friend from Senior Year of high school was an international student from Hanoi. I stayed with her family for a few weeks. I experienced my first culture shock as well as my first big travel high. I was hooked.

Since then I've managed to go to Europe a few times, living in Vienna twice (for three months and then two months). The last trip I took abroad was Mexico. I have been living in Portland, Oregon for almost three years and was most recently working as a barista.

I would love to keep traveling abroad, but I am currently a working class person trying to break into a more steady career, so that has me tied up a lot of the time. In lieu of international travel, I have learned to treat the every day experience as a potential adventure. I enjoy remaining curious about my surroundings, even if they seem familiar. My current adventure involves moving to NYC and trying to land a job in a progressive political organization of some sort. I fully expect to be working service jobs on the side, and that's actually cool with me because I really like the people I meet in those jobs, especially coworkers.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to travel and meet new people. Even when I'm just on my morning commute to work or hopping around town, I like to leave myself open to the possibility of meeting new people. I think community is essential, but my community has become largely long-distance because I moved around after high school.

Interests

• literature
• coffee
• yoga
• politics
• movies
• languages
• travel
• food
• bars
• feminism
• comedy
• critical theory
• postcolonialism

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite book is My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.

For music, I like hip hop, indie, RnB, and other chill music. I love Sylvan Esso, Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, tUnE-yArDs, The Internet, etc.

I'm not sure what my favorite movie is, but I just saw Moonlight and loved it. I really like every Richard Linklater film I've seen – the "Before" trilogy and Waking Life.

Teach, Learn, Share

TEACH
The things I like to teach are more ideas than skills. I have taught and tutored writing. My specialty is argumentative essays. One practical skill I can teach is how to make a damn good cup of coffee.

LEARN
I speak German somewhat fluently, but I would love to improve it. My French is trash, but I'd love to improve that too.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, United States