LIVING TO TELL THE TALE

Hi bonjour ciao! A day dreamer as free as a bird, I can't sit still. Travelling and documenting those adventures are my favourite things. Hence the wedding photography side biz. Hence the one second clips I take every single day and the Youtube videos featuring slow motion running scenes set to melodramatic acoustics. Hence my blog where run on sentences are king and I praise Couchsurfing as if it were a religion I dedicated my being to: lenayasmine.com // Instagram: @lenayasmiine

I live by the Yes Theory, in that I never say no to things I've never tried before. The weirder the experience, the better the cinematic value, the greater and more extravagant it will be to share later on. I'm known for vanishing to the other side of the world on a whim without telling anyone and although I'm not quite sure where I’m going, I’m just thrilled to be going somewhere. I believe that the best stories are always the ones that come from spontaneous decisions so I never plan too far in advance. A tad questionable at times, but my friends referring to me as the girl with « 1001 stories to tell » makes it all worth it ;)

I studied Political Science in Canada and Morocco. Then I moved to Italy to study a Master’s in human rights at the University of Padova — Montréal was my city of adoption, but it was time to find a new place to call home for a bit! Life is always more fun in constant motion. I’m not sure at what age I will decide I want to stop moving … not yet, not now…

My favourite quote : "Stay wild. Trojan horseplay. Run on your own and run with the pack. Radical inclusivity. Love aliens, hate alienation. Radical accessibility. The group is a form of drag (let others set you free from yourself). The establishment can't catch you - shift shape whenever they get too close. Cuckoo to mistletoe to crocodile-bird. Learn from diverse organisms living in close association. Overshare. You are one in ten billion (and that's just the number of organisms disco dancing in a handful of ashes). Optimistic nihilism. Anarcho-comedy. Laughtivism. Disguise yourself as something familiar but be careful not to recreate the state you left behind. Make sure your name is omni-barrelled and you change it every day." - Louise Ashcroft

At the end of the day I believe that we should never be so cautious that we forget to open our hearts to the wonderful. Roll the dice, join the party. It's so much more gratifying to live in trust than in fear.
Jacques Brel: “Some have such a vast heart that they are always travelling”

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Nearly all of my favourite stories stem from surfing in one way or another. I surf to make new friends, new memories, and learn from one another— everything from acquaintances to intensely personal relationships, the CouchSurfing community never ceases to surprise me and make my life more beautiful! I host when I'm home to offer what I would like to experience when I'm travelling. Generosity is one of human kind's most important traits ✌🏼

Interests

People, run on sentences, magic, adrenaline, freedom, disappearing, daydreaming…

• writing
• photography
• vegetarian
• juggling
• backpacking
• surfing
• hitchhiking
• adventure travel
• learning languages
• videography
• diving
• bartending
• space
• acroyoga

Music, Movies, and Books

Some favourites…
Books: Wild, Humans of New York, Shantaram
Films: La Vita È Bella, The Darjeeling Limited, Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain , Call Me by Your Name
Music: Lorde, Nina Simone, Portugal The Man, Bon Entendeur, Clay and Friends, Parov Stelar, Clark's Bowling Club, Hozier, Joy Crookes

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Glacier hiking in Iceland was like walking on the moon! Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef in the pitch-black of the night, face to face with dingos while camping in the Australian Outback, driving hours outside of Montréal to find the best spot to watch the stars, impersonated a tour guide for a bit, swinging on Tarzan ropes in Costa Rica, raising $30,000 in 10 months for clean water in eSwatini, getting lost in Cuba and sleeping on a stranger’s farm, skinny dipping in Morocco, learning to drive in the Moroccan desert, wilderness camping in the Dolomites with wild cows, the month long, 4000 km road-trip from Strasbourg to Dubrovnik, motorcycles in México, stole a boarding pass to go to Casablanca, walking all of Manhattan from North to South, circumnavigating the Senegalese desert without any water, discovering the nightlife of Thiès with a group of Togolese friars, life changing alchemists and wizard encounters, weekend in Jordan, hitchhiking the length of Bulgaria to reach the Black Sea, trekking 130km for five days from Bologna to Firenze, hitchhiking in Puglia to end up in a five star hotel without paying anything, getting stuck in a car for 22 hours while hitchhiking through a blizzard in the Atlas Mountains, jumping off of the tallest bridge in Italy …!!!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can offer you a lot of good stories! But I can also teach you juggling and/or how to walk on your hands ;)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Italy, Morocco, United States