ABOUT ME

I am from the US originally (North Carolina, Go Tarheels!), but have been living, working, and studying in many places since then. I am currently a PhD student in Montréal studying neuroscience and doing research on sentence processing and bilingualism. I have previously lived in San Sebastián and Madrid in Spain and in Beijing and Nanjing in China.

PHILOSOPHY

I want to always be learning and thinking critically. To this end, I'm very interested in living as a perpetual foreigner--I grew up a monolingual English speaker in North Carolina, and while it's a great place and it will always be home to some extent, I want to rectify the monolingual part. Living abroad means always having to figure out how things work and never being able to take shared cultural contexts and expectations for granted. I'm looking for the balance between living deliberately and taking life day by day.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Every trip where I've couchsurfed has been a better trip because of it. There's cool, interesting people around the world. I'm happy to be in a position in my life where I can finally begin hosting people!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfed in...
Shenzhen, China
Chengdu, China
Uji, Japan
Osaka, Japan
Prague, Czech
Montréal, Canada
Durham, NC, USA
Cherryfield, ME, USA

I also attend Couchsurfing meetups, so far in Beijing, Bilbao, Budapest, and Prague.

It's been a great experience! I have some genuine friends through Couchsurfing, and every place I've Couchsurfed has been a better experience than staying in a hotel.

Interests

I'm an ebook addict, and I always make time for leisure reading. Sometimes we say we don't have time to read for fun, but we somehow always have time to watch tv. So let's chat about our latest reads!

I've tried to be more conscious about pursuing minimalism and minimizing consumption after the family home I grew up in was foreclosed in 2011. It was a stressful, harrowing experience for all, but helped me realize the most important things we have are not material possessions and minimizing those in my life helps me focus on the things that are important, like friends, experiences, community, and travel. Couchsurfing really embodies that ideal for me, a free way to meet new people and travel to see the world.

• culture
• books
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• running
• movies
• minimalism
• geopolitics
• languages
• ukulele
• biking
• mindfulness

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC
Adriana Calcanhotto, Natalia Lafourcade, Marisa Monte, Maria Gadú, Mayra Andrade, El Kanka, Caetano Veloso, Concha Buika, 五月天，孙燕姿，汪峰， 刘若英，Benjamin Clementine, Nina Simone, Cat Stevens, Monsieur Periné, Mon Laferte, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tank and the Bangas, Lizzo

I like Portuguese fado, and I love music from Cape Verde--Amália Rodrigues, Mariza, Cesária Évora, Elida Almeida, Lura, Mayra Andrade (so cool she gets listed twice :)). I also met two travelers named Amalia and Marisa when I was in Lisbon, very cool coincidence.

AUTHORS
margaret atwood, neil gaiman, kazuo ishiguro, jacqueline carey, shirley jackson, flannery o'connor

I enjoy short stories, I love The New Yorker's weekly fiction. I have several recommendations if you are interested!

MOVIES
Harold and Maude, Fargo, Inception, Central do Brasil, La Famille Bélier, Castaway on the Moon, The Handmaiden, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (both 1 and 2!), Incredibles (both 1 and 2!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Living outside my home country since 2014. The US can be great, but I find myself more challenged and forced to experience new things living in non-familiar places. And life is more interesting striving to communicate in a second language :)

https://www.mytravelmap.xyz/u/gg115317285955656378938

Teach, Learn, Share

Let's play some ukulele? Speak in a couple different languages? Cook something together? Go for a bike ride?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Please let me invite you to eat or cook something for you!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Canada, China, France, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macao, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, China, Spain, United States