CURRENT MISSION

To learn, explore, love, live to the fullest

ABOUT ME

Laura - Even as a small child I had this idea in my head that I would roam around the world with a backpack on and people would invite me into their homes to stay, providing me with hospitality. We’d share food and stories and then I’d travel on down the path to my next adventure. I was told that this sort of world didn’t exist anymore - that I was living firmly in the past with idyllic ideas of hospitality that were no longer. Enter CouchSurfing and the courage to take advantage of this opportunity and an opportunity to travel the world. I studied Anthropology in college, also with a keen interest in other cultures, other places. And while I love traveling I still am rather fond of where I’ve called home for the past few years - the city of Detroit. I love meeting people, embracing other cultures, exploring vast terrains. My passions are quite varied and ever changing. I’ve spent the past 5 years working at a coffee shop and have encountered the most interesting people and accumulated incredible stories. In a quest for personal development, growth, and experience, I’ve up and left my previous life, relinquished my belongings, strapped a backpack on and am seeing where the world will take me. I have no plans for the future, only the present. Wanting to soak up all there is in this short life of mine. I want to learn and share and love. This is the most terrifying and exhilarating thing I’ve ever done and it’s only the beginning. This is the first step on my mythic quest.

Lizzie - Let's see… I am 25. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, lived in Upstate New York for the past 4 years, and very recently moved back to the Detroit area. I am very thrilled to be traveling around Europe with Laura (who has been my best friend since 10th grade) for 2 months! I am so excited to meet new people, to see new sights, and to immerse myself in new cultures. I have a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Film & Media Studies. I am between jobs but had been working most recently as a bank teller, and worked at a bookstore prior to that. I have no idea what I am going to pursue when I get back from our European adventure. In fact, I don’t really know what I want to do with my life at all—I’m kind of lost and I am totally okay with that. I’ve always had my own way of doing things and I’m just continuing on my own unconventional path through life. I am a huge music and film geek, I love people, I love learning and sharing random bits of trivia, and I like hearts of palm more than anyone else that I know. I get along with pretty much everybody that I meet and my interests are broad enough that I find I have at least one thing in common with everyone. I would say I am often described as friendly, bubbly, and childlike (not to be confused with “childish”). I am daydreaming at any given moment. I believe in magic because I prefer the feeling of mind-blowing amazement over the feeling of crusty cynicism. I believe that Nessie exists even though I know better. I am equally excited about tasting fine wines in Tuscany and sitting on the life-size replica of Falkor from The Neverending Story in Munich, if that tells you anything. I completely shaved my head in April (in solidarity with kids with cancer and to raise money for childhood cancer research), so lately, with my hair growing back, people have also been describing me as “fuzzy”. I like that.

PHILOSOPHY

Going off the beaten path, defining our own lives. We're perpetually curious about life, our need to learn is never satiated. We live to learn and spread love.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Just surfing now. Although we're not hosting currently (we are traveling May-July), we are interested in doing so on our return.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have stayed with a few couchsurfers now and had a spectacular time! Eager for more!

Interests

Travel, music, movies/film, trivia, martial arts, reading, art, cultures, philosophy, spirituality, psychology, genealogy, theater, all forms of creativity/expression, writing, poetry, animals, hiking, camping, biking, exploring, meeting new people, trying new things, meditation, drinking tea, road trips, magic, mythology, synchronicity

• animals
• arts
• culture
• writing
• poetry
• theater
• dining
• coffee
• meditation
• drinking
• shopping
• trivia
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• magic
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing
• martial arts
• anthropology
• communications
• genealogy
• psychology
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Pretty much all of them - anything that can make you think, laugh, or dance

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Laura - Watching children jump down waterfalls in the middle of a secluded forest in Costa Rica. So much joy, exuberance, life!

Lizzie - I went on a 10-week long road trip around the States with 2 friends when I was 19 and went on a shorter (but awesome) road trip with Laura the next year. So far, I have been to 41 out of the 50 United States. There has been much amazement.

Teach, Learn, Share

We are a wealth of random information - psychology, anthropology, pop culture. Laura can teach basic self-defense/martial arts and Lizzie can blow you out of the water with her knowledge of trivia.

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