I grew up in a small town on the northern border of Maine and later in a town in southern New Hampshire. I went to art school in the US state of Georgia. After I graduated I moved to Seattle, Washington in 2011. I worked in the video game industry for about five years - mostly on a game called Guild Wars 2. I left the game industry to work on Google Maps in 2016 and I'm still working there.

I love learning about History, Cultures, Art, and Science. My parents were both linguists for the Army and we lived in Europe for a while when I was a baby (I don't remember any of it unfortunately). My dad became a history teacher and encouraged a lot of my interests.

You should know I'm trans female. I've been really lucky to receive only acceptance and support from everyone important to me. My entire family, all of my friends, my jobs, and Seattle as a city are all very positive toward LGBT people. I'm very comfortable talking honestly about my experiences and thoughts on the subject if anyone's interested, but I'm also very happy to talk about anything else. I don't really bring it up on my own, but for something like this it seems like a good idea to be clear up front. My interests are mostly related to learning about others and their ideas.

I'm a very nice person with a very active sense of humor, and I don't get anxious or upset easily.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to experience news things and make friends with nice, interesting, and funny people.

I've wanted to travel since I was very young, but we never had much money so it's taken a long time for me to have a chance to do so. My partner Dan and I are excited to start traveling and are likely going to try hosting after our first trip because we have a pretty nice house and a very comfortable spare bedroom.

Dan and I have only been in a relationship for about a year, but we've been best friends for almost 15 years. It's awesome. We've seen a lot together. We grew up in New England side by side, went to the same art school in the South, and we've lived together in Seattle the entire time we've been here. We're excited to see even more of the world together!

Interests

• culture
• politics
• video games
• music
• sailing
• anthropology
• history
• psychology
• science
• sociology
• art
• food
• film
• science fiction
• space

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

At the risk of sounding really dramatic, I'm going to have to say the most amazing thing I did was come out. I really don't bring it up often, but it'd be disingenuous to suggest anything else I did was more amazing to me.

I overcame a deep life long fear of losing everything (anonymity, privilege, a loving family, friends, job, home, personal health) - and not only managed to keep them when I came out, but actually grew closer with my family and began a wonderful romance with my amazing best friend.

It wasn't all me, and I don't dwell on it much. But it's amazing to me.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
Well, I know a fair amount about a wide range of subjects. I'm up to date on a lot of geopolitics, and a lot of world history. My geography and cultural knowledge are pretty good (even before I started working on Google Maps). I know and occasionally follow news or podcasts about astronomy, psychology, and philosophy. I can speak from experience as an artist and as a member of the LGBT community in America. I think I have an interesting perspective to offer on the subject of both genders. I know very little about sports or mathematics, but I'm not against learning more about them.

Learn:
I'm interested in learning personal stories. I'm interested in how the journeys people take differ in different cultures. I'm interested in local perspectives on politics, history, and society. I'm interested in languages, though I'm not fluent in any but English at the moment. I'm interested in the books people are reading, and the food they're cooking. I'm open to hearing about their problems or aspirations.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'd love to share in a network of friends who travel all over the world and share news, experiences, and talents with each other. I want to share food, ideas and conversation, works of art or demonstrations of skill. I'd love to share our studio space with other artists, my kitchen with cooks, and host thought provoking conversation at my table. I want to share the city and culture that took me in and accepted me and impart some of that acceptance and support on anyone I meet. I want to have fun with great friends, and benefit from the hospitality of their home cities as well.

Diversity. That's what we all have worth sharing with each other. That's what I want to gain and to share with others.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States