CURRENT MISSION

To learn Spanish and travel as long as I can manage in South America...

ABOUT ME

I am a teacher, amateur photographer, lover of all things food and cooking (especially vegetarian, indian, thai...), storyteller at heart (if not always in practice). I hate shopping and scary movies; I love getting lost in a good book. I recently find myself on a spiritual journey exploring meditation and mindfulness in the context of my own life and in the field of education as well.

My partner Sean (Chambers - look him up on CS too) is my favourite person to talk books, movies and music with. He can also get really into politics and news and technology where he may or may not leave me in his dust! Of course we both could talk about traveling for hours.

PHILOSOPHY

I think traveling is the best way to push myself past boundaries, to explore possibilities, to force myself to constantly ask myself what matters, and is that what i'm doing. Explore, prioritize, stay in touch with those that matter, be where you are - those are the things I strive to be better at, whether I am traveling or not.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In my traveling days I surfed in several countries, especially throughout Asia and Australia, and had wonderful experiences every time. When Sean and I moved to Kuwait, we had the opportunity to host adventurous travelers from around the world and loved hearing the stories come to us for a change. We have taken a break from participation while moving countries and getting resettled but now I am looking forward to exploring the travel culture in Central/South America.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfing has been so great to me in the years I've been participating. When you're traveling and all you want is a great conversation, a book recommendation, a friend for company, knowledge about a place where you know nothing, a circle of friends to spend a weekend with... couchsurfing has been there for me in all those ways and more and I am looking forward to more experiences as I continue to find adventure as an overseas teacher. I have been blown away by the amazing people that come together so easily on here, and the generosity of so many at once. CS has been known to restores my faith in people when it otherwise might go awry ...

Interests

I love reading and writing, movies and music, and all the talking and thinking and wondering that goes along with those loves, out loud or just to myself sometimes ... Actively I love trekking and camping, snowboarding when I can get to the hills, and diving as much as possible when I travel. I love to cook and if we can cook together or you can teach me something new in the kitchen, that will make my day.

• culture
• writing
• books
• dancing
• salsa dancing
• education
• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• meditation
• shopping
• politics
• technology
• news
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• backpacking
• camping
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• teaching
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

To read: Paulo Coehlo, Ayn Rand, Milan Kundera, Margaret Atwood, Bryce Courtenay, Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert... ; I recently devoured 'Three Day Road' and love getting in touch with Canada through literature... To listen: guitar strings and piano keys, ambient and chill get played most often on my little ipod ... love to rock out once in a while, especially to female vocals. I also love podcasts of all kinds: Radiolab, The Moth, Invisibilia... To watch: Anything with a great story and/or cinematography gets me every time.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I achieved my second degree black belt in karate many years ago; I lived for a year with only a backpack, a camera, and the support of some great friends; I survived teacher's college which I cannot say I loved, though I love being a teacher; I recently moved to Guatemala to set up a brand new life with someone I love and it has its challenges but its definite rewards too

Teach, Learn, Share

Please teach me more about cooking! Spanish practice is definitely welcome, as are travel tips in Central/South America, of course. I would also really love to go out salsa dancing :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am happy to practice English with you, or to cook a vegetarian meal to share.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Germany, Greece, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, France, Guatemala, Kuwait, South Korea

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