Humanitarian based for the past 5 years in Jordan/MENA region.

I love hiking, yoga, photography, reading, trying to master Arabic, and of course travelling!

Travelling the world since I turned 18 (visited over 50 countries).

I tend to prefer staying in Air B&Bs when I travel these days, and living in shared flats all the time makes it tricky to host in Jordan. However, I’m always down to meet up! I don’t use Couchsurfing as a dating app so probably won’t reply if you’re a guy with no references messaging me a one-liner 😉

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Started summer of 2015, never looked back. I was tired of only meeting other travellers in places; I wanted to make friends with locals, and get to see a bit more of the authetic side of cities, not just what's on tourist maps. Now couchsurfing is the only way I'll travel - it's being part of a huge global family, how you meet likeminded vagabonds, wanderers, travelling bums. The connections I've made with people through this website is truly beautiful, and have totally shaped my experiences of countries. I never have any expectations or preconcieved notions, so each stay is an adventure. I just love this website, man 😊

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

*Disclaimer: I couldn’t choose one and wrote this over the past 10 years lol*

Ate porridge at 10pm with my host family in the Gambia, because they didn't know what else to cook that was vegan, and whilst we shared this massive bowl of porridge there was a lightning storm happening around us (because you eat outside of course). Pretty surreal for a lil 17 year old Kat! Also taught kiddos @ a primary school.

Hitchiked to Madrid from Edinburgh in January... my feet were wet for 3 days but my faith in humanity was restored.

Fell in love with Romania and the Romanian language - my grandparents were from Cluj, but I'd never been before - I taught English to an amazing group of kiddos for a couple weeks.

Ate my way around half the vegan cafes in Berlin and Vienna. Got my entire body painted in Amsterdam.

Explored Cappadocia with a wonderful group of couchsurfing travellers from all over the world. We rented a car (more like a van) and saw everywhere! Whirling Dervishes in Konya. Istanbul - just, Istanbul man.

Survived Delhi and Rajhastan in the 2016 June heatwave! (Taj Mahal in 45 degree heat. Fun.) Stayed with a host family in MP that had next to nothing but were so incredibly generous with their food and made me feel so at home. Cycled around Hampi - roadtripped to Ajanta and Ellora caves - rode an Indian train for 30 hours (general class cause, it's the best way to make friends) - spent Christmas and NYE in Arambol, Goa - ate lots of iddiyyapam and idlis and MA SA LA DO SA's in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Worked at a dog shelter - had my heart broken when I had to leave. you think relationships break your heart???? try leaving 50+ puppies that are extremely emotionally dependant on you - and you to them!!

Hiked the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal spontaneously - fortunately met a trecking buddy the night before I set off (a lovely Lithuanian Laura).

Hiked the Slovenian Alps and nearly died in a hailstorm at the top of Triglav (because we free climbed rather than using ferrata and safety equipment, dimbos).

Hiked Accursed Mountains in Albania solo, gave me great faith in myself because hiking alone is so much more difficult - no one encourages you, coaxes you, bullies you to move on. Similar to travelling alone, you have to be your own best friend and worst enemy, you have to support and force yourself to do things!! I was seldom alone in evenings though - most heartwarming experience was a family telling me I could camp in their garden rather than a nearby forest, then they wanted to help me put up my tent, then I was to meet the whole extended family and plied with fruit they grew, grape juice, and then fed an array of amazing home cooked Albanian food, and then they were insisting I slept in the house even as I tried to explain I like camping!! It was a totally pure, kind experience. Cs without cs!

Istria - a place you can call Home. A commune I lived at in Croatia

Hitchhiking... Just, hitchhiking! Co-piloting trucks in Poland and the Balkans, using google translate and sharades to learn about my driver's families and lives... Being taken to homes to meet said families, being taken to parties, being taken for coffee every time!! I also hitched from Athens to Amsterdam in 5 days because I had to get home to Scotland in a week for my mum's birthday... That was crazy!

I hitched and hiked and free camped all around my own bonny Scotia back in 2018... My very own Supertramp/ back to nature summer

I volunteered at a refugee community centre in Calais, France. This led me to start a career in the humanitarian sector. My aim was to advocate for refugees and migrants in the UK, but life had other plans and I ended up moving to the MENA region to intern at local refugee support organisations.

Since 2019 I’ve been all around Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Tunisia, interning and volunteering at NGOs, studying Arabic, and then completing a Masters degree in Islamic studies and anthropology. At this point, I lived with a Bedouin family in Wadi Rum to write my MSc thesis, and I loved it so much with them I very nearly stayed forever. However, as always, life had other plans 😌

Nowadays, I work full time in the humanitarian sector and travel whenever I can. I slowed down a lot the past few years in terms of travelling (due to the pandemic too), but choosing a career in a field I genuinely care deeply about was worth sitting still for a while. So was studying Arabic and Islam, and learning about a culture and worldview completely different from my own Western upbringing. I still can’t choose just one amazing thing I’ve done, but perhaps this whole journey, from a hitchhiking hippy to a graduate student and global professional, counts 😉

What I Can Share with Hosts

English/Arabic language skills, insights on working in the development sector/ living in both the Western and Muslim world, maybe some yoga/meditation techniques, just please don’t ask me to cook or I might actually poison you!!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Jordan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Palestine, Scotland