I moved to Berkeley from Arkansas in order to support Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights platform which is helping the animal liberation movement take off. I am a raw-food vegan (for the most part) I want to be a fruitarian and am moving in that direction.

I have had experience in staying in people's homes as a guest first when I was 19 and traveling alone in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. I really liked getting to know the local people rather than just seeing the tourist attractions. People would invite me into their home to stay mostly so they could get to know another person from a different part of the world, and maybe because they felt protective of me!

I loved those experiences, and will always be grateful to the people--mostly Muslims--who sheltered me.

Then, 4 years ago, I finally had the courage to leave living in a situation which was dysfunctional. My main fear of leaving was having to pay rent, and I didn't want to work full time just to pay for a living space. I asked some friends if I could do organizing, cleaning, and gardening in exchange for rent. For the next 1 1/2 years, I had 3 wonderful places where I stayed. Then when I traveled to the Bay area, I found the same kinds of situations. I lived in this very expensive area for 6 months without ever needing to work at a regular job.

This time of being free from needing to work gave me the opportunity to explore what I really wanted to do when I grew up, and I had the realization that I wanted to dedicate the rest of my life to animal liberation, inspired partly by Direct Action Everywhere and by a new friend who had been a vegan for 30 years.

I am passionate about building an ecovillage in the bay area, as well the Vegan Utopia Ecovillage in Arkansas. My main role in Direct Action Everywhere is to help create an even deeper sense of healthy community and to get the music part of the animal rights movement up and running. I am leading the DxE Choir and collecting and organizing animal rights songs from activists all around the world which can be part of our culture.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Right now I am all set with a home, but I might be traveling in the future. I also might choose to do some couch surfing in Berkeley. I have support for my animal rights activism right now, and that might be ending soon. I want to be prepared to support myself if necessary, and so saving money by couch surfing would be a wonderful thing.

Interests

• hiking
• volleyball
• community living
• veganism
• community
• nonviolent communication
• animals rights
• nonviolence

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Came to Berkeley and jumped in right away so I am director of the Direct Action Everywhere choir!

Teach, Learn, Share

Organizing, guitar playing, voice lessons, cleaning, raw vegan food prep (smoothies and basics)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Organizing, guitar playing, voice lessons, cleaning, raw vegan food prep (smoothies and basics)

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Austria, Canada, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey