I’ve been traveling around the world for the past 12 years on a budget of about $300-500/month. I have no permanent “home” nor a consistent job or career. I usually work any odd job for a short amount of time, save money, quit the job, then live on my savings and travel around the world. I’ve been living on my savings for 2.5 years since the last time I worked for money; since then, I traveled around all of the accessible Hawaiian Islands, up the east coast of the US, across Russia and Mongolia, lived by Lake Baikal in Siberia and hitchhiked from Moscow to Spain. I explain how it is possible to travel on a low budget in my blog- http://www.bigworldsmallsasha.com/

Я никогда не верила в систему и не видела смысла тратить много сил, чтобы сделать себе карьеру чисто из-за денег. Я ценю жизненный опыт и личное развитие. Не деньги и не материальные ценности.

Постоянно путешествую без возвращения в какое-то определённое место. Дом - для меня это вся наша прекрасная планета. Многое хочется увидеть. Деньги зарабатываю, когда они кончаются. Работала инструктором по сноу-борду, дайв-мастером и кажется в сотнях разных ресторанов и баров. Несколько месяцев много работаю и хорошо экономлю. Увольняюсь и двигаюсь дальше- куда хочу. Много денег мне не нужно, потому что все мои вещи помещаются в один рюкзак)

Я ещё волонтёр Проекта Венера- https://vk.com/thevenusproject :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing is where I have found some of my most amazing friends, crazy people that understand each other! It is really a community for people who roam the world relentlessly and I love being a part of it wherever I go (except for countries in which men regard it as a hook-up site!!)

The verification thing pisses me off- making money off of this community is contradictory to the idea itself. And getting something sent in the mail is no way of "verifying" your "legitimacy" or non-perviness.

I hosted in Sydney, Indonesia and Russia. Surfed in Spain, Mexico, New Zealand, US, Bulgaria, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. I have also just met and asked advice from a lot of different people on couchsurfing all over the world.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I sailed around the North Island of New Zealand on a hand-built yacht for 2 months because of somebody I met on couchsurfing (Jonathan Martins), then this same guy invited me and another friend I had met on couchsurfing to sail in the Caribbean. Together we did a 600 mile crossing from Sint Maarten to Aruba.

Also had a picnic in a tree, saw some amazing hot springs, poached mountains, made some amazing friends, ate the best food in Baja, Mexico, got kicked out of a Jack Johnson concert at Sydney's Opera House, did 2 safari tours with a Sri Lankan safari guide who was my host, and much much more...

Interests

Snowboarding, hiking, traveling, music, dancing, scuba diving, trying to play guitar, trying to surf.. volleyball, slack lining, most sports.., meeting people, having a well-crafted beer and a good conversation, exploring.. most things that don't have to do with war or death or spending a lot of money...

• yoga
• traveling
• hiking
• kayaking
• surfing
• snowboarding
• sports
• hitchhiking
• trekking
• slackline
• freediving
• biking
• diving
• outdoors
• climbing
• stand up comedy
• acroyoga
• the venus project
• trom

Music, Movies, and Books

https://www.tromsite.com

Pretty much anything but pop music. Movies- the Power of One; the Coconut Revolution- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjpt6fOYDi8 Books- "the Culture of Make Believe" by Derrick Jensen. Just for an example.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I met a really nice country girl named Asry in a small market in the mountains of Flores, Indonesia. After about a minute of speaking to Asry she invited me to meet her family at a nearby village. 5 minutes after arriving at the village her family invited me to stay at their house. One day after this arrival they brought me to one of the biggest family parties they throw in years.
We arrive at the scene, rice basket on head, and I pretty much get mounted by Asry's family because they had never seen a white person before. They dressed me up in their traditional black and gold cloth, put some plastic jewelry on me, and set me straight off into the middle of the circle to go dance with the dancers as a group of men banged on their traditional drums.
As the dance succeeded Asry's relatives led me to the spiritual room to sit with the elders meanwhile a group of men dressed in traditional gowns began to sacrifice animals outside. Next thing I know the drums were banging louder and blood was splattering all over the soon to be rooftops of the Ngada tribal houses... and I am a little bit ashamed to say that that was the only time I was actually afraid of being sacrificed for a family's ancestors. My main thought was just that if something did happen, nobody would have even guessed where the hell in the world I was :)
But in the end they just fed me a lot and made me dance))

Teach, Learn, Share

I was a snowboard instructor for a little bit so if there's snow I can probably give you a lesson. I can also take you diving (given the right environment ;) bc I'm a divemaster.
As far as learning goes- anything to do with music (guitar, uku etc.)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can cook up some dishes and share some stories :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saint Martin (French part), Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United States