CURRENT MISSION: To bring home the fun and pay back the favor!

ABOUT ME:
Hey there! I'm Nicole, a 35 yr old female born and raised in Los Angeles, California, USA. It’s now been ten years since I quit my job, sold everything, bought my soul back from the devil and hit the road. After 8 months hitchhiking Europe by myself over two years span and a runaway trip to Thailand I re-rooted myself in Los Angeles.... I currently work in the Automotive industry. I’ve been back to Europe a few times to see family and new friends that I met through CS as well as visiting the Middle East. I love art, music, people, culture, tasty food and a good time!

You can find out much more about the trip and my experiences here: http://www.kajsablix.blogspot.com

PHILOSOPHY:
- The time is "now to now". Yesterday and tomorrow are an illusion.
- Appreciate all elements of life; good, bad and indifferent.
- Try new things.
- Be surrounded with positivity.
- Have FUN!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING:
I found out about CS a few weeks before moving out of my apartment. I hosted and met up with some surfers in LA just to hang out and show them the city.

After years on the road.. I'm addicted. There is no other way to travel!

As I am now settled back in, I'm look forward to hosting more like minded travelers and paying it back.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE:
To try to sum up the bonds and experiences that have been created through CS is simply not possible.

Interests

My passion in life is art, music and friendships. I enjoy being physically active, the great outdoors, cooking, natural remedies, sunlight, philosophy and a good laugh. I love to experience new and different things all the time!

• culture
• design
• cooking
• wine
• gardening
• hiking
• hitchhiking
• road trips
• long-term travel
• au-pair
• food
• learning languages
• biking
• teaching english
• paddleboarding

Music, Movies, and Books

I am a music lover! There is too much amazing music to say I love one thing the most. When I travel I love to submerge myself in local music. What can you recommend?

I usually don't watch much TV or many movies but I do enjoy the occasional documentary, movies based on a true story and movies that force you to see a new perspective.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Carnival, bigotes and live Banda music in Mazatlan, Mexico.
- Climbed the Eiffel Tower in a summer dress, sandals in the pouring rain on an empty stomach and one step away from passing out.
- A coffee shop in Amsterdam with an awesome Jamaican.
- Snow covered Mount Shasta in the middle of July.
- New York City in one long, hot, sweaty, amazing day!
- Experienced light all night long while "bathing" in the Gothenburg harbor.
- Mowed a proper hobbit lawn bordering the north sea.
- Hitchhiked Norway and experienced my great Fjords.
- Hitchhiked Sweden to Hamburg, picked up a cat Copenhagen.
- Camped in the middle of the city with Occupy Hamberg upon arrival.
- Experienced the greatness of the Koln Dam in Germany.
- Belgian waffles, fencing guilds, beer and great times in Belgium.
- Hitchhiked Belgium to London in one shot and on £2.60, canal and partying with Romanian lorry drivers included!
- Swam in the English channel in freezing November after a crazy night out in Jersey with three Brits.
- Hitchhiked from Prague to Berlin... via 5 hours in the wrong direction and including Poland. Apparently homeboy (who didn't speak a word of English) wanted to show me his homeland!
- Got the Austrian bug! Saltzberg, my love, have to come back!!
- Took a ride on the Deutsche Bahn while packed like sardines for Oktoberfest! I'm sure there was vomit on the train. I slept through it!
- Hitchhiked France! D'ou allez vous? Check and success!!
- Hitchhiked Spain, saw many great pueblos and ate many pinxtos. Got picked up by the civil police and separately was offered money for a quickie. I graciously declined in my poor, poor Spanish.
- Experienced what an overnight train is in Thailand and partied with the best of them in the dinning car that the "servers" in your car insist don't exist.
- One true night in Bangkok with two wild and amazing ones!
- Floated the Dead Sea, touched the western wall and ate kosher in Israel for two weeks.
- Climbed on the pyramids, crossed the Nile and experienced life with a generous family in Giza.
- Visited Petra, went to a forbidden bar and found out what happens when you let someone without a license drive and crash your rental car in Jordan... Nothing happens.
- Played badminton inside a legit Chateau in the French countryside while staying with a BFF I met from CS.
- Christmas dinner in Sweden! Tomten showed up in his red suit and danced with us.
- Oyster bar hopped in Vancouver, BC, ate blue cheese ice cream, hiked through the forest, climbed a tree like a monkey and crossed the famous suspension bridge.
- Watched the Swedes raise a midsommarstång (Maypole) for midsummer, hopped over 9 stone barriers, picked 7 different wildflowers and placed them under my pillow, drank schnapps, ate all the pickled herring, picked generations old strawberries, ate wild blueberries, soaked up the sun and enjoyed tranquility of the North Sea from the summer house.
- Enjoyed a 24 hr pit stop in Reykjavik and experienced sunlight the *entire time* on the longest day of the year. Had my mind blown by Olafur Eliasson’s architecture after weaseling my way in with another CSer at the Harpa/Concert Hall.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to change a tire, make a martini, unclog your sink, ride a horse, ski, process film, knit, drive a manual automobile, fish, play blackjack and many other things.

I am constantly learning. Hopefully about your culture, what you enjoy in life and why. New methods or things to cook, things to do or play. Card tricks, sports, art, music.... ? Show me! :D

Share? I love to share.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories, lots of stories! I'm also told I'm pretty good at keeping things tidy, cooking, spontaneity and being easy to be around. You tell me!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Jersey, Jordan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States