I have just finished my undergraduate degree Natural Sciences (Biological) in Cambridge (specialising in plant science, algae and bioengineering). I come from the Czech Republic (Prague) and I still spend quite a few months each year there. I am rather optimistic (and I don't believe one can be optimistic enough) and love trying and learning new things, taking some challenges. Sometimes people say I have too much energy - well, if there is too much to try and achieve in a lifetime, one just needs to manage time well, live fully and die happy :)

CURRENT MISSION:
Gap year - I want to travel the world with a hand baggage but also outdoor equipment doing science internships at different places which I would consider for further study (travelling in between them). I have been Vienna last summer, Prague (home) for early autumn. In late autumn I didn´t manage to find funding for my internship in the US or Canada so I was travelling through Asia instead. I have started in Finland went to Sri Lanka and Malaysia while applying to PhDs. Then I had an internship in January+February and travels in December in Australia (while having my peak application stress). I also stopped at home unexpectedly to support my mum in a hard situation. Currently, I am in France (living in Paris, working in Versailles) doing another internship on plant oils and looking forward to my PhD at Imperial College London. But the whole summer beforehand!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am looking for inspiration from interesting open-minded people, learning new things, attitudes and cultures. I am interested in how people live somewhere else.
While studying, I could still share a bit of their journeys with my guests and become a small part of it! With living in a college it became possible to invite people to my home although the time for my own travelling was relatively limited. The stories of travellers visiting me also contributed to the fact I am travelling now during my gap year!

Interests

I love sports - most of all I enjoy backpacking mountain crossings and also kayaking and caving. I like acroyoga, amateur photography, baking and generally trying everything new and exciting so I have tried lots of different things for shorter or longer, some of them I still do occasionally. I study biology but I also like computer science, want to learn to programme and spend some of my research time by that. But my highest passion is synthetic biology (engineering biological systems to do something cool - I did an internship (for iGEM competition) in it in summer 2016 and got really excited for this field, since then, I only do more and more of it).
I am interested in personality development.

• wildlife
• photography
• baking
• podcasts
• kayaking
• mountaineering
• biology
• psychology
• study abroad
• solo travel
• mountains
• mindfulness
• climbing
• acroyoga
• wild camping
• caving
• digital nomad
• canoepolo
• synthetic biology

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have done a few things my friends find amazing.. for example going to study abroad in Cambridge or deciding to travel alone through the world and do some science there instead of a masters for several months with a handbag. They also believe I have a time-turner. To be fair the only really amazing thing was realising that our happiness comes pretty much from our own approach, the world is open and there is no need to say 'it won't work' before we try. And these realisations were mostly thanks to my amazing friends.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my culture, experiences from Czech, Britain or my travels. I can give you some advice how to travel cheaply and how to get and fund internships if you want to do science (or something else) abroad for a while. I can share photographs, maybe a piece of cake or something typical for us and also some (hopefully) nice time talking and getting to know new people. Plus I really enjoy teaching the basics of acroyoga if you are keen!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, France, United Kingdom