CURRENT MISSION

**PLEASE NOTE - I'M MOVING OUT OF MY PLACE AND WON'T BE HOSTING FOR A WHILE AFTER THE END OF MAY **

#NoBorders #RefugeesWelcome

ABOUT ME

I love making (veggie) meals for others and bringing people together to share good chat and laughter. Old and new friendships are my most valued possessions. I've got a serious side, but also a healthy sense of humour. I like to think of myself as laid back, but you'll have to be the judge of that. I do like to talk (and read) about the heavy stuff, but I also believe fervently in going nuts on the dancefloor. I do my best to grow things. I expect I'm one of very few Communications Directors who doesn't use a smartphone.

PHILOSOPHY

Live thoughtfully, eat well, enjoy your friends, go wild sometimes, and ride a bike.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Started hosting regularly in the summer of 2014, along with my young son, and am very happy to be sharing our space with a variety of nomads.

Folks, this is important...I'm pretty laid back but I do get lots of requests every week and invest time in responding to them. However, if you haven't filled out your own profile, taking some obvious care in doing so to introduce yourselves to the community on here, then I'm sorry but I won't be up for hosting you. If you tell me what the last tune you heard was when you write to me then I'll know you've read my profile!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Just a couple of days as a couchsurfer in Ecuador. But plan to do lots more.

Interests

I'm opinionated on and motivated by lots of things, especially music, environmental and social justice stuff, literature and arts in general, and living for your principles. I read and do yoga when I can, review theatre scripts for fun, work with children and young people, go to gigs and exhibitions, write when I can, cook loads, get out in the country as often as possible, and travel quite a bit. I think ideas are important and I like talking about them. I speak Spanish. I'm a mama too. I love to swim in cold water and hunker down by an open fire.

• arts
• writing
• books
• literature
• cooking
• vegetarian
• yoga
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• camping
• communications
• forestry
• social change
• wild swimming
• horticulture
• global justice

Music, Movies, and Books

Vonnegut, DeLillo, Grass, Doctorow, Joyce, Kafka, Sontag, Austen, Hardy, Auster, McEwan, Kelman, Shakespeare, Achebe, Rushdie, Keats, Tolstoy, Lawrence, Dickens. And others.

Dylan, Clash, Andrew Bird, Toumani Diabate, Feist, Alela Diane, Devendra Banhart, MGMT, John Grant, Mozart, Hot Chip, Leftfield, Massive Attack, Odetta, Kings of Convenience, Jon Hopkins, Cinematic Orchestra, Velvet Underground, Bjork, Sigur Ros, White Denim, Wild Beasts, Joni Mitchell, Dusty Springfield, War on Drugs, Zero 7, Herbaliser, Pink Floyd, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Orbital, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Little Dragon, Thievery Corporation...I could go on all day here.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing Jill Scott live. Cartagena, Colombia. Many, many great books that I have read. Giving birth and watching a baby becoming a person. Connecting with people in many ways and many places. Camping in the Andes. Cycling through Ireland.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teaching English. Learning Spanish. Writing, editing and other communications skills. Vegetarian cooking. Knowledge on child and youth participation, the media, climate change and environmental issues.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Malawi, Mozambique, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bolivia, Lebanon, United Kingdom