Traveling has become a big part of my life.

Hi. My name is Lianie, and a lot of my friends call me Lanz. I was raised and born in the Philippines. American & Spanish by blood but Filipina by heart. Generally, I'm an optimist, realist, with ambivert personality, a free spirit, open minded and am one always up for new adventures. I was into all sorts of sports growing up. Currently, I have a full time job on a weekday and Adventure Guide on a weekend in the Philippines, with a mission to climb mountain one at a time local and international.

The best lesson I’ve learned so far is that being exactly who I am is always more than enough, and comparing myself to others only robs the world of my uniqueness.

My deepest fear is risking everything to follow my dream and then failing in the process.

My greatest dream for my life is to move with an open mind, traveling and meeting as many people as possible, questioning and discovering as much about the world and life as I can, and continuing to travel to share those learning.

I'd love to....

-To get a fresh perspective (One of the best and most rewarding aspects of travel is its ability to provide you with a fresh perspective.)

-To push/challenge myself to try and explore new things. (Challenging myself is never easy – that’s why they call it a challenge. Life is too short to skip out on great experiences just because it could prove difficult in some way. Going out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself will help you grow as a person, gain confidence and push past emotional and physical limitations that may be holding you back in other areas of my life.)

-To Learn (Travel is a great way to learn about others and most of all personal journey to self-discovery, You can pick up new languages, try new and interesting foods, learn about other cultures and gain insight into new customs you’ve never seen or taken part in. You may think that learning stopped the minute you left school, but you should never stop learning, no matter how old you are, and traveling gives you a great opportunity to soak up knowledge from other cultures, people and places. The more you learn, the better you’ll feel about yourself and the more fun and enriched your life will be.)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm all for being part of the community now! A responsible one! Be a local friend. I'd love to do meet ups - show you around my city and country. I'd also love to exchange stories about random trails & adventures! Never fails to provide best travel & adventure experiences, sharing interesting & embarrassing stories. Learn to interesting life changing & eye opening moments. Generally interested to people that will dare and affect to do great things.

I don’t care what you do or what you own. I just want to know who you are. I want to know your uniqueness, the experiences you’ve had and the learning you’ve gained. I want to know your story.

What is your story? Everyone has one. No two stories are the same. There are over 7 billion people in this world and none are like you. You are unique. Your entire life journey including your upbringing, challenges, your hard learned lessons, your experiences, achievements and gifts, are all a series of footprints that have brought you to this very moment in time as you read these words.
Every person you walk or drive past on the street has their own story. Every person in front of you in line at the grocery store has their own story. Every friend and work colleague in your life has their own story.

Life is a tapestry of people weaving in and out of your life, people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Everyone has something to offer and share with. I think everyone has something to learn from each other, even if its just for a short moment. Imagine treating every person you encounter, no matter how fleeting, as an intriguing story waiting to be told. But the story can only be told if someone asks to hear it. Will you ask? That person you see standing before you, no matter who they are, young or old, rich or poor, angry or kind, is like a blockbuster movie ready to enthral you.

I realized that every opening conversation was dominated by this question, “What do you do?”
We seek to understand and define people by their ‘doing’ in the world. For some reason we categorize and rank people’s worth in this world by what they “do.”
Does what you do matter more than who you are? No. What you do is only a small part of who you are.
Do we care about each other enough, and are we interested enough in what we can learn from each other, to stop asking “What do you do?” and start asking “Who are you? What is your story?”
So, I’d love to ask you something, and I’m not asking a rhetorical question. I really want to know YOU and YOU and YOU....

Interests

My dream:
I want to bungee jump in Macau tower, sky dive in Dubai & New Zealand, doing a lot of SOLO backpacking, travelling with new found friends, swimming, trail run, hike, drinking wine with friends outdoors in setting sun and beautiful view everywhere, dive with Great White Sharks in South Africa, and explore the Middle East, Africa South America and even I was leaving my whole life in Asia especially Philippines (my home sweet home) there is a lot of places I never been to yet. (I want to explore more of my own country than tourists get to...) Travel by bike/motor/boat and the cheapest and best exercise is to take random walks without destination (I LOVE walking!). through a given place. I want to climb mountains a lot of mountains (local and International) & aspiring, dreaming to climb the 7 summits.

• wine
• exercise
• running
• walking
• drinking
• boating
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• bungee jumping
• sports
• swimming
• divinity
• languages
• psychology
• tourism
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music makes my soul smile :)

Books:
1. The Geography of Bliss is a tough book to nail down. It defies categorization. I like to think of it as a philosophical humorous travel memoir. The Geography of Bliss is really a travelogue of ideas by Eric Weiner.
2. Vagabonding - The author Rolf spent 10 years on the road (he even walked across Israel) and his book contains valuable insights, quotes, and a lot of practical information. From saving to planning to life on the road, this is a must for newbies.
3.The 4-hour Workweek
4.The Promise of a Pencil
5.The Beach
6.Unlikely Destinations
7.The Looptail
8.On the Road
9.The Turk Who Loved Eating Apples: And Other Tales of Losing My Way Around the World
10..Eat, Pray, Love
11.The Places in Between
12.Into the Wild
13.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
14.In Patagonia
15.The Sun Also Rises
16.Inca-Kola: A Traveller’s Tale of Peru
17.‘A Year in the World’ by Frances Mayes
18.’The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost’
19.Life is a Trip
20.How to Travel the World for $50 USD a Day
21.Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
22. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Top of head... many to mention...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Solo Backpacking in Asian Countries.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Philippines