Hello! My name is Lauren (she/her), and I grew up in Maine, USA 🌲 I did my bachelors degree in social work and political science and my postgraduate studies in nonprofit management👩🏻‍💼✏️ When I finished undergrad, I wanted to travel full-time and do language and cultural immersion. I became a certified TEFL teacher and started teaching English in Spain in 2020 📚 I lived a year in Galicia and a year in Murcia. I’m a native English speaker and have a B1 in Spanish 🇪🇸.

I’m currently back to my studies and working on my masters degrees in social work and social policy 🎒👩🏼‍💻. This keeps me pretty busy and close to home most of the time, but I love opportunities to get away or meet new people in my own city. 🗺️

When traveling, I try to stay away from traditional tourism and focus more on authentic cultural experiences. I believe that travelers are a guest in a new place and should be respectful of that 🌎.

My favorite cities: Toronto, Granada, Seattle📍

My favorite travel memory: my first solo trip. It was to Toronto in 2017. I discovered so much about myself and fell in love with traveling. 💭

🇺🇸•🇨🇦•🇪🇸•🇩🇴•🇵🇹•🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿•🇫🇷•🇧🇪 •🇳🇱•🇦🇹• 🇭🇺•🇵🇱•🇭🇷•🇨🇭•🇩🇪•🇨🇿•🇮🇪•🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿•🇸🇰•❓

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I’ve found couchsurfing to be a great community of like-minded travelers who are committed to sharing where they live. I believe it’s about giving more than you receive.

I believe that traveling is more than collecting as many experiences and sites as possible, check things off the to-do list, and move on. I believe in learning from a place, from other people who live there, from culture, and from exploring beyond the typical.

I think that sharing life experiences together builds bonds, cultural understanding, and unity in the world.

Interests

• nightlife
• crafts
• politics
• reading
• backpacking
• social work
• study abroad
• language exchange
• volunteering
• budget travel
• travel
• nature
• friends
• activism
• feminism
• mindfulness
• social policy
• lgbtq+
• nonprofit
• greek life

Music, Movies, and Books

🎶 Music: 1960s folk, 1990s grunge, 2000s pop
🎥 Movies: Titanic, Straight Outta Compton, Easy Rider
📚 Books: Eleanor and Park, Blue Like Jazz, Lord of the Flies

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I learned to juggle machetes and fire when I was 14 🤹🏻‍♀️

Teach, Learn, Share

👩🏻‍🏫 Language exchange
✊🏼 Deep conversations
🤹🏻‍♀️ How to juggle

What I Can Share with Hosts

For people learning English, I can offer practice speaking conversational English. I also have a B1 in Spanish.

I can share my travel experiences and stories, as well as talk about my life in the United States and experiences abroad. I love having conversations around social justice and social issues.

I’m a terrible cook but would be happy to take you out to a meal.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Hungary, Spain, United States