CURRENT MISSION

To visit as many places as possible, live to at least 104 with my fiance', Jim by my side, both in great health, with no unfulfilled dreams or regrets at the end!

ABOUT ME

Marci: a happy, professional woman, born in the USA and lived in Toronto, Canada for 21 years. She's the mom of a 33 year old son who lives and works in Chicago. After many years of 9-5, decided that what she really wanted to do with her life is travel full-time, so everything she does now is to reach that goal. She is wise, young at heart, curious, and tolerant when it comes to people with different backgrounds, stories, and life experiences.

She lived in Kagoshima, Japan, for 14 months and taught English to little kids. It was a life-changing experience and she got to travel all over Japan and Asia while she was there.

She's a serious and quiet person, but loves to have fun. She's a little shy at first, but warms up once she feels comfortable. She prefers one-to-one relationships over large groups. She is warm and compassionate and has a great sense of humor. She enjoys cooking and hopes we might be able to share a nice meal together.

One day, she hopes to do a RTW trip - and get Jim as hooked international travel as she is. She'd love to go back and share some of the great places she has been in the past, with him by her side this time around. She feels blessed and lucky to have true friends all over the world.

Jim: 10 years older than Marci and a retired hospice RN. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, he spent a large portion of his growing up years in Cleveland, Ohio before moving to Florida. Being near the water is a priority for him. He loves kayaking, fishing, and cycling. He's a foodie, an awesome bread-baker, and his tomato sauce is to die for!

He is a sensitive, caring, warm person. He tends to "wear his heart on his sleeve." Even though he's an intense kind of person, he has a fantastic sense of humor. He hasn't travelled very much and can't wait til his passport has as many stamps as Marci's does.

We met two years ago after meeting online and it was love at first like for both of us. We have been inseparable ever since and got engaged in April 2016. We hope to get married on a beach one of these days.

As a couple, we make new friends easily and relish the possibility of making many more in our travels!

PHILOSOPHY

We are liberals who believe health care should be a right and not a privilege, and that no one should go hungry, especially in the US. We hate any kind of pollution and the effects of global warming. We think it is more important to support small businesses than greedy corporate conglomerates. We also strongly believe that life is too short! The Law of Attraction seems to have a lot of truth to it. We've seen that the more you give, the more that comes back to you in return. Always hope, never expect. We believe that people are inherently good. Age is just a number!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW WE PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We like the idea of "paying it forward." We want CSurfers who stay with us to enjoy and benefit from our hospitality and kindness to them and for them to pass it on to others. We're not really "partiers" anymore. Our wild and crazy days are over. We prefer quiet evenings at home sharing a bottle of red or some beer. We are neat and clean, and don't smoke or do anything in excess. In that way, we're the perfect houseguests.

OUR COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We always seem to have company (not necessarily "formal" CSurfers) and love to have open-minded travelers with shared values around us. We're also doing housesitting; caring for peoples' homes and pets while they are away.

Marci had a wonderful time living with a family in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 6 weeks.

We both can't wait to have more experiences and adventures together.

Interests

Marci:

Traveling, cooking, eating, reading, music, language, plays and movies, opera. Creative writing. Psychology. Photography, knitting, snorkeling. Surfing the net. Cycling.

Jim:

All of the above, minus knitting, plus kayaking and fishing. He is also a percussionist, who specializes in playing the bongos and loves Jazz, especially Latin. He has also been a professional rum reviewer and had his own website about rum for years.

We both love sailing and have been searching for a bluewater cruiser and plan to eventually circumnavigate the world.

• writing
• photography
• cooking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• opera
• snorkeling
• nursing
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

Marci:

Eat, Pray, Love. Book and movie.
Foreign and indie flicks.
Any first person narrative travel stories.
Poetry.
"Bridges of Madison County."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Marci:

I think the waterfalls, rainbows, and butterflies at Iguazu Falls in Brazil were some of the most amazing things I've seen in my life, so far.

Teach, Learn, Share

We can teach you some English and read to your kids.
We're both anxious to become fluent in Spanish.
We each have thirty five years of experience as registered nurses and would be happy to share what we've learned about health care in the US.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Jim's a great handyman and can help you fix just about anything.

We'd love to share food, meals, beer, wine, kindness, and gratitude. We would like to leave your place better than we found it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Denmark, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Canada, Japan, United States