Hi! I'm Kiki and I have spent most of my life either learning or travelling. I have turned my love of being overseas and my devotion to human rights and worker rights into a small alternative clothing company based out of Rajasthan, India. I make crazy creations from a small family run workshop using up cycled fabrics such as old saris and rajasthani embroidery, along with lots of other crazy creations. In the winter I am usually either in India or in some other part of Asia, such as Thailand, Cambodia, or China. In the summer I am at home in my little off the grid cabin in the Kootenay region of B.C. Canada, or on the road bringing my designs to various music festivals and markets. I am an excellent resource if you are looking for information about Canadian music festivals! I also sometimes have spaces for volunteers who would like to get in free to music festivals in exchange for helping in my shop!

For me, animal rights, worker's rights, and the environment are my biggest concerns and I spend a lot of my free time working to help animals, especially dogs, who have it really hard in many parts of the world, including India. I also like going on big Royal Enfield rides through the desert or the jungle. We would love to show you around Rajasthan by bike!

Other than that, i love playing folk music (I play guitar and banjo, both upside down) and I love dancing to most types of electronic music. I spend a lot of time at music festival for my work and I consider myself very lucky that I get to spend my time surrounded by people being free and enjoying themselves. I love yoga but i hate preaching to anyone about anything! (except maybe sweatshops, sometimes I preach about sweatshops, because there are SO MANY other options and we really don't need to support that type of clothing production!!!)

I can converse in French, Spanish, Hindi, and Thai, but i'm far from fluent. That being said, any chance to practice with fun and patient people is greatly appreciated!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I'm not on the road travelling for my business or to get away from my business, I'm at home in my little cabin at the edge of a tiny town in the beautiful Kootenay mountains in B.C. Canada. I would love to have guests from all over the world come and see the gorgeous nature and pristine wilderness that we are so lucky to have out here! I have also found that travellers are really great volunteers in my little festival stall clothing shop, and if you love alternative fashion and aren't afraid of a little rain, we might have a position for you!

During the winter I roam around India and Asia, and i'd love to meet locals wherever I am, and staying in a home is always better than staying in a guest house!

Interests

Travelling (obviously), learning new languages, alternative fashion, ethical clothing production, environmentalism, electronic music, folk music, playing guitar, playing banjo, photography, animal welfare and animal rescue, meeting new people, hiking, caving, motorbiking, exploring, and learning new things about the world.

• animals
• dogs
• fashion
• photography
• music festivals
• festivals
• dancing
• animal welfare
• environment
• human rights
• dining
• yoga
• running
• shopping
• clothing
• traveling
• music
• folk music
• electronic music
• guitar
• cycling
• hiking
• spelunking
• business
• teaching
• history
• languages
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One time my husband and I found a dying dog in a trash can in the middle of the Thar desert in Rajasthan India. It was Holi (a very big religious holiday). They has thrown him in there to die. We drove him hundreds of kilometres to the nearest town, but the vet would not touch him. So we drove this epic journey all the way to Jaisalmer, with nothing open to provide any of us with food or water, in the middle of the night, and arrived just before the pup breathed his last breath. We found a vet willing to help him and through two painstaking weeks of non stop vet visits and lots of near heartbreaks, he pulled through, and we found him a new home with some lovely young boys whose fathers worked at a nearby cow reuse. He is our little baby Oscar, the garbage pail dog, and we visit him every year, and raise money for the cow sanctuary that gave this poor puppy a safe home.

We are currently working on raising funds to build a dog rescue on the same site. I hope that we can save many more doggies who are not given a chance to live in this harsh desert climate. I've travelled all over the world, seen crazy things, and started up my own business with only $500 in my pocket. But the most amazing thing I have ever seen is this little almost dead puppy coming back to life right in front of our eyes. He taught all of us a lot of lessons, and the hard work was worth it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Help around the house, child minding, language lessons (I'm a certified ESL teacher with loads of experience!), history lessons, travel advice, and i bake amazing bread (if you have an oven).

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, France, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Hong Kong, India, Tanzania, Thailand