We are both line cooks from Seattle who, through the acts of fate, met at our current job and fell madly in love. We both are very adventurous and love traveling. Leon has lived in several different places throughout the world, including Luxembourg, France, New York and Los Angeles. Kimberly grew up in Seattle and recently lived in France for a few months to work in a restaurant in Montpellier. We are both spontaneous and decided to quit our job to travel the world and meet new people and experience the many different cultures within Europe and beyond!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We are beginning our journey in September 2015 in San Sebastian to embark on the 700 kilometer pilgrimage along the Northern coast of Spain. After that, we are planning on traveling through Europe and have both heard great things about couch surfing from friends. We are both concentrated on our experiences and adventures while we travel and are less concerned with the destination or "hotel experience." Which brings us to this website. One of the best experiences I had while living in France was meeting new people and opening myself up to their culture and hospitality. To be able to do that in several countries, make new friends, and have memorable stays with locals is very exciting for both of us. We only hope that once we return to the States we can host other travelers in the future and give them the experience and shelter that we hope to have while we are abroad.

Interests

Kimberly:
-Cooking: it's definitely up there on my hobbies, but as it is also my job, it can be a love/hate relationship at times. I love learning about food though and experimenting with different recipes to see my results. It's such a creative outlet but there is also so much technique to it and room to grow why I love cooking as my career. It also doesn't hurt that I get to feed people and make their bellies happy!

-Traveling: I got the bug last year when I lived in France! I am excited to see more of Europe and meet more people!

-Being outdoors/ hiking: One thing I love about Washington is how green it is and all of the amazing hikes that are available here. I am excited to branch out to different countries and explore the scenery with the pack on my back, my hiking shoes and a book to read on the way. I'm sure the Camino will be quite a challenge, but I am looking forward to the adventure and also have a good sense of humor in trying times ;)

-Hanging out with friends and family: Board games, pool, poker, food and booze. Enough said.

-Other interests: Yoga, running, playing with my kitty, laying in the grass and reading a book with Leon!

Leon:
I'm interested in stories. Stories told by people from every culture. The stories told by food, by art, by cultures, by the brief interactions and the ones over bottles of wine. I love inventions, the mythical and the practical. I love history and the modern context it has brought us to.

More specifically, I love reading books. I love eating. I have enjoyed cooking creatively as a profession for the last ten years. As a job, it has freed me to move around a lot and never fall into a rut. I like to write and create in multiple mediums from painting to doodling to sculpture. I love exploring cities, old and new, and hiking out into the remote wilderness. I love the excitement of staring up into a star filled sky and catching those few magical moments of a shooting star. I love meeting people and live by the words my father used to say, "I don't believe in strangers. There are only friends I haven't met yet."

• arts
• culture
• books
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• yoga
• running
• board games
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• socializing
• painting
• poker
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• hunting
• surfing
• basketball
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Kimberly:
-Music: Too much music! I am a huge concert person; i love seeing bands live. I love all kinds of music ranging from Kendrick Lamar all the way to instrumental bands like ASIWYFA. Some artists, just to name a few, Thao Nyugen, Cold War Kids, Band of Horses, Beirut, Slightly Stoopid, Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Chance the Rapper, Of Montreal, Rodrigo y Gabriela.

-t.v.: Seinfeld, curb, how i met your mother, dexter, breaking bad, the IT crowd. Detroit rock city, office space, zoolander, water boy, happy gilmore

books: Sedaris, Dickens, Graves, Conrad, Bronte, Carroll, cooking books of all kinds

Leon:
Music? Lets have a jam session and make noises into the night. As far as listening, I'm always down for discovering something new. I especially love live music. My playlists right now include a lot of hip hop: Kendrick Lamar, Danny Brown, J Cole, Killer Mike, Schoolboy Q, Jay Electronica, Big KRIT, MF Doom, Chance the Rapper, etc...I also love the classics of rock, psychedelic, indie, blues and jazz. This list could be endless!
Books? I am an avid reader and consider it a very important aspect of my ongoing life long continuing education. I'm working on reading through the classics of fiction while throwing in some good nonfiction and pieces on history. I am currently reading the autobiography of Malcom X and Jonathon Swift's Gullivers Travels. If I had to pick top book, it might be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or Jitterbug Perfume.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Kimberly:

The most recent thing I am proud of is my decision to travel the world for the next few months and my ability to sell all of my possessions and reduce my life to my ten pound backpack.

Leon:
I hope this section is able to be constantly updated as I stay open to the future and all the possibilities it holds. Opportunities can be hidden in the most unlikely of places. Without getting into a resume of accomplishments, I think my optimistic outlook on life and the sense of humor I've had since childhood have helped me over come the obstacles in the way to any accomplishment and to find the joke hidden in any of my failure.
Alas, one amazing thing I've done:
I walked the length of a basketball court and back on my hands and won five dollars from a friend in seventh grade who bet me I couldn't do it!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Luxembourg, Spain, United States