CURRENT MISSION

I wish to learn more about life and the human condition, to help find solutions to environmental, health, and social challenges. And I like to have fun! To enjoy this lovely Earth and return its magical energy.

ABOUT ME

Typical daily to do list: spin Fire, eat chocolate, make herbal concoctions, garden, make lemonade, dance in the rain, teach about wonderful things & how to find solutions to environmental challenges, cause mischief.

I'm a biologist and college teacher with a specialization in ethnobotany (I study how people relate to and use plants--combo of anthropology and botany) and herbalist, and also a performance artist (firedancing, hooping, etc). I'm very interested in environmental issues, sustainable living, and other cultures. I'm an outdoor enthusiast, I love to hike, to garden, to dance, to learn, to make things... I love having adventures and making new friends!

PHILOSOPHY

Whenever you think it might be a bad day, just remember: it only takes a smile to make it a good day! :)

IF YOU STAY WITH US

or just come visit Fort Collins, we like to get out into nature every day and you're welcome to join us!

In the winter we snowboard a lot, in the summer we go to the river and lake a lot, tubing, floaty island, "beach" time, etc. We like meeting new people and hearing your stories, having cross-cultural interaction, etc.

**Please note that we can’t accept guests who don’t have strong references since we have a small child.**

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I think CS is important in many ways. It not only fosters inter-cultural interaction and friendship building, but it facilitates the ability to travel and explore other cultures and places for the non-elite of the world.

Whenever I travel, I like to make local friends and really learn about and experience the local (and/or expat) culture(s). I also like to do the same for travelers to the places where I am. My husband and I are always interested in meeting up with travelers, and hosting when we can, to make new friends and share the culture of where we are and have been.

I also periodically post about events and volunteer opportunities to meet locals and get to know the local land, plants, music, etc.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It's been really wonderful! The only problem with Couchsurfing is that I keep meeting awesome new friends that I wish lived in the same place I did--so sad to have to say goodbye! Literally some of my best friends in the world are people I met through Couchsurfing!

Interests

Refining my special secret superpowers and projecting myself into fantastical landscapes.

Hiking, dancing, fire dancing, herbal product concocting, snowboarding, acroyoga, biking/mountain biking, surfing, SUP (stand up paddle boarding), rock climbing, cooking, drinking tea, checking out local microbreweries/local favorite places, ...

• culture
• performing arts
• dancing
• cooking
• chocolate
• drinking
• gardening
• traveling
• music
• live music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• snowboarding
• sports
• rock climbing
• anthropology
• biology
• teaching
• languages
• volunteering
• rivers
• mountains
• mountain biking
• rollerblading
• adventuring
• helping people

Music, Movies, and Books

Visually and auditorally enrapturing, dramatically captivating, wild ride engages you to think deeply... Causes you to think about where we're going as a species and a planet and to evaluate yourself... I'm a huge fan of good sci fi...
Movies and shows: The Expanse, Rick and Morty, Black Mirror, Lexx, Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek original series, Serenity, Firefly, Penny Dreadful, The Big Lebowski, Clockwork Orange, The Parasite (Korean), everything by Almodovar, everything by Aronofsky, Kubrick, The Umbrella Academy, all the Star Wars, political comedians (Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher), the Cohen brothers, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Headliners...

This list is of course by no means exhaustive, and if you have anything to suggest, I'd love to hear it! And maybe we can watch something together!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The boiling lake and valley of desolation hike in Dominica--I HIGHLY recommend it. Make sure to stop for a dip in the hot spring waterfalls.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to teach, learn, and share...
I love learning about other cultures, and about people's experiences living with cultures other than their own. I love trying new things and learning new skills, new languages, new perspectives. I love to share my knowledge and skills, to help others as I can. I love to ponder viable solutions to the world's challenges, and discussing diversities of perspectives on how to accomplish them.

If you visit Fort Collins, I can take you on a hike, tell you about locally useful edible and medicinal plants, in winter go snowboarding, in summer volunteer at The Growing Project, mountain bike, swim in the river, etc. If you've read my profile, please tell me "orange you glad..." in your message to me ;).

What I Can Share with Hosts

If I/we ask to stay with you or meet up, it is because I think you sound like a cool person we would like to meet and spend time with. If you are too busy to hang out, that is ok too, but we are not "just looking for a free place to stay." It can be very helpful to save money on accommodation when traveling, and we super appreciate that too, but we welcome you to hang out with us as much as you can. We like to be great guests when we stay with people--which can take many forms. For example, we like to make meals and/or go out and treat our hosts to a meal or drinks, help out, share exotic treats we brought from our home or picked up while traveling, share stories, share skills, etc. when we stay with people. Interested in learning how to spin poi, juggle, or other circus arts? How to identify useful and medicinal plants? Learn to cook new dishes? Practice English or Spanish? And so forth...

There's a lot that I/we'd love to share with you--let me/us know what sounds good!

I can share friendship, share stories, have adventures, cook you nice meal(s), make you special tea to drink, make you healthy and tasty chocolate from scratch...

We are very friendly and easy going, clean up after ourselves, do not require or ask much from our hosts, and like to feel that we give more than receive.

I/we can fire dance for you.

I am a teacher of many things and can teach you:
-some fire dancing moves,
-poi spinning,
-hula hooping,
-acroyoga,
-the languages I know well (English, Spanish),
-how to ferment vegetables and kombucha,
-how to make herbal products, how to heal yourself with herbs,
-how to identify plants/how to find medicinal and edible wild plants,
-other things depending on your interests...

It's always great to have friends to visit in the beautiful state of Colorado! There are so many fun things to do here all year long, outdoorsy in nature and also in the town. In the winter it's arguably the best snow sports possible... Sunshine and great snow almost every day... Great mountains, we love snowboarding and have sleds and national and state park passes... There are great trails for hiking and mountain biking, rivers for recreation and fishing, camping, etc. So many good microbreweries and restaurants in our town... Lots of great live music, and people are very nice here.

We also lived for 11 years in Hawaii until just recently and can provide lots of advice about visiting or moving there.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belize, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, Germany, Namibia, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Spain, United States

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