[I'm most familiar with my hometown of Philadelphia. See below for Philadelphia recommendations :)]

I just finished my doctorate degree at the Ohio State University, and I currently work as an analytic scientist. I’m living in Columbus, Ohio with with my husband, Kyle - we are both Americans, but we actually met studying Russian in Kyrgyzstan. We love to backpack travel during our summer holiday, and have spent the last 3 summers living in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, and did road trips around Lebanon and Austria.

We love meeting new friends over beers, or going on adventures to different parts of the city/country, or going to museums or concerts or whatever else.

Before I met my husband, I did a lot of solo traveling with the help of amazing people on CouchSurfing. I spent a year living in Prague working at a pub, I did a solo Trans-Siberian railroad trip through Mongolia and Russia, and I did multiple backpacking trips through Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.

Kyle and I are both really friendly and open, and we love meeting new people. We also try our hardest to be as gracious guests as possible, and if you're into any of the aforementioned hobbies (or honestly anything else), we would love to hang!

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Philadelphia recommendations:

1. The Philadelphia Museum of Art (or at least the stairs) because it’s in the Rocky movie. It’s pay-what-you-want (e.g. $1) on the first Sunday of the month.
2. The Fishtown neighborhood (metro stop Girard) is where all the cool hipster bars are. I recommend Barcade and Johnny Brenda’s.
3. South street is cool to walk around on (weird shops and bars - I recommend Tatooed Moms).
4. Old City to see the liberty bell (free, but you have to wait in line), Benjamin Franklin’s grave, and all the old brick buildings and parks.
5. Check out the website uwishunu.com (you wish you knew) to find any festivals/events that are happening.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because people are awesome, of course :)

Interests

Hiking, nature, beer, live music, history, museums

• beer
• traveling
• music
• live music
• hiking
• skydiving
• history
• museums

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been skydiving twice, and traveled the Trans-Siberian railroad from Beijing to Moscow.

Also, I can’t wink or whistle which some people find amazing.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can offer conversational English practice (I'm TEFL certified), mediocre cooking, and funny/sad/amazing stories about America.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Czech Republic, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, United States, Uzbekistan