Have laptop, will travel!

I'm a writer who quit a good corporate job to pursue my passion full-time in 2014- and I never looked back. I now have a few writing projects (mostly long-form fiction) in various stages of publication, and I pay my bills by leading French-speaking tours of the Western US and Canada in the Spring and Fall.

French-Canadian born, but have mostly lived in Los Angeles since 2003, with a lot of NYC in the last 2 years. I speak English and French at a native level and I'm fluent in Spanish and Italian.

I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, I try to eat mostly plants, and I think of every expense in terms of how many plane tickets it's worth. I make my bed in the morning, love to cook for people, and can't go to sleep with dirty dishes in the sink. Always looking for dog bellies to rub.

When I'm not on tour I'm writing, reading, exploring the world, and hiking as much as I can.

Read some of my writing if you like: https://medium.com/@OliviaSemple

Some cool stuff I've seen: https://www.instagram.com/picholine/

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've been a full-time gypsy for about 2.5 years. Have stayed in hostels, Airbnbs, yurts and mansions, have dog and house sat, and stayed with friends of friends of friends. This seems like the next logical step in this adventure called life.

I was an Airbnb superhost before getting rid of most of my possessions and going nomad, so I know what kind of person it takes to open up their home to strangers — and that's exactly the kind of person I want to meet more of!

Interests

• writing
• tattoos
• cooking
• yoga
• running
• meditation
• music
• live music
• hiking
• backpacking
• travel
• art

Music, Movies, and Books

Books I've gifted the most:
Ishmael- Daniel Quinn
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Dry - Augusten Burroughs
On Beauty - Zadie Smith
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
Waking Up - Sam Harris

Movies I'll re-watch anytime:
Forrest Gump
Gladiator
The Dark Knight
Amelie
The Aviator
ET
The Matrix

Music jumps from electronica to indie to gansta rap to classical. I make lots of Spotify playlists and I'm happy to share them! Random sampling: QOTSA, EODM, Ry X, Khruangbin, Bonobo, Edward Sharpe, Elder Island, Tricky, Open Mike Eagle, Jonwayne, Jedi Mind Tricks, Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, Rachmaninov, Nina Simone, and so many more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Written two novels
Kilimanjaro
Everest Base Camp
Trans-Siberian (St. Petersburg to Beijing)
Vipassana!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking skills (esp. plant-based)
Travel hacks and all sorts of stories
Western US / National parks recommendations
French
Meditation 101
Dad jokes

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Thailand, United States