MUST LOVE CATS. We have two furbabies in our home.

So, I was one of those American's that grew up in a ridiculously small town, where the most interesting thing to see all year was the local high school football and basketball games. I grew up in Bluefield, West Virginia (que the John Denver - Take me home, country roads...I'm sure you've heard it before... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vrEljMfXYo). Anyways, when I was 23 I busted out of that joint and moved to Southern California for 3 years -West Covina, which is about 30 minutes drive from LA. I was never good at living in a small town, I always dreamed of something bigger and better for myself...just took a lot of courage and I had to sacrifice a lot but it was all worth it in the end.

I currently live in Niort, France with my French husband. Funny enough, I actually met him on Couchsurfing when he hosted my German friend and I for a week in Paris in 2013. He came to see me in California for a few weeks, and then I lived with him over the summer and during the holidays in 2014. I now live in France just for him. There's a love story for you!

My Frenchie and I are talkative people, me probably more so than him, and we love sharing stories about our travels together because we have some VERY interesting and shocking stories to tell people. We've...ugh, seen a lot, haha! We love sharing our Las Vegas stories with people...not everything stays in Vegas!! I laugh a lot and I've been told that my laugh is one of those laughs that makes others laugh...(Try to say that 5 times: I've been told that my laugh is one of those laughs that makes others laugh). Sooooo, I guess I have a strange laugh but if it makes other laugh then I love it too!!
I also love to share cultural ideas...and while I'm not the most patriotic American, I have had some very deep conversations with hosts and surfers about the stark contrast between my home country and their own country.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've surfed and I have hosted. I have also been to a few couchsurfing events in Paris.
I have couchsurfed in Paris, Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England; San Francisco, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Brussels, Belgium; Prague, Czech Republic and Porto and Lisbon, Portugal! With those couchsurfing moments I have made great friends, learned about other cultures, and even met a special someone (even though this wasn't both our intentions). I just recently opened my own account to host, even though my Frenchie is the one who usually deals with request from his own profile, which you can view here: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/quentinroussel

I've only ever had one bad couchsurfing experience, which was when my German friend and I were making our way to London for the first time. Our host in London bailed on us right before we got to London. So here we are, two girls waiting at the train station near Luton airport at midnight with nowhere to go...
THANKFULLY a nice British guy on our train to London offered us a place to stay. I know that is generally a NO NO when traveling but he seemed quite awesome...so we paid for his taxi back to his place, stayed the night, thanked him the next day, and left for a hostel... so thank you to this British guy, wherever he may be!

Besides this one bad experience, which turned out quite nicely in the end, I've had wonderful hosts and I've had wonderful surfers that I helped my Frenchie to host. I know what it feels like to be traveling and to want more of a connection than just seeing the sites. Couchsurfing changed my life in a great way, because here I am living in France with my soulmate. And while these types of things don't happen for everyone, we've met awesome people who have had an impact on our lives and vice-versa. So, whether we're hosting or surfing, we hope to always be a good memory years down the road.

Interests

Embroidery, cooking, knitting and crocheting (I'll be a cool granny one day haha), playing video games sometimes, cooking, walking around little streets in Niort, watching French TV so I can learn how to understand French, just started basic yoga, animals...I really love all animals in the world, looking for ways to eat healthier, cooking (yeah, I know I put this 3x's but I really love cooking). It goes on and on. At the moment, I'm testing the waters when it comes to a raw diet. I haven't jumped completely on board yet, but I'm doing the necessary research before jumping into it.

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES
Amelie, A Clock Work Orange, The Lovely Bones, Lord of the Rings, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hocus Pocus (THAT'S RIGHT), The Neverending Story, Legend (epic 80's movie that many seem to have forgotten), Labyrinth, Limitless, The Goonies, Django Unchained, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Inherent Vice, Mad Max: Fury Road, Edward Scissorhands, Crybaby, Basically anything Quentin Tarantino and the list goes on...

SHOWS
Game of Thrones, Outlander, The Big Bang Theory

MUSIC
Florence and the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds (her old stuff), Bastille,
MØ, Haim, Chvrches, Alt-J, MS MR, Camera Obscura, The Postal Service, The Pretenders, MGMT, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Beach House, Empire of the Sun, Imogen Heap, Passion Pit, The Strokes, The Cure, The Kooks, Foster the People, M83, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jabberwocky, Metric, Two Door Cinema Club, Bon Iver, Explosions in the Sky, Youth Lagoon, Sin Fang, Sigur Ros, Of Monsters and Men, ...I could go on forever, but now you have an idea.

BOOKS
I used to be very big into Harry Potter growing up. HP is what started my love of books at the age of 11.
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is AMAZING! Another favorite book of mine was picked up as a joke: The Game by Neil Strauss...awesome book!
I've been reading a lot of old literature lately, like Don Quixote and The Decameron. I like Edgar Allen Poe as well.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Since it says ONE amazing thing...I drove over 2,200 miles to live near Los Angeles all by myself. I left from West Virginia and traveled down through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. When I was driving through Oklahoma at night, I got to see some of the most amazing lightning during a light rain. Oklahoma is flat, so you can see everything for miles. The lightning was so clear. It was scary, but beautiful at the same time. It took me 3 days to get to Cali because I drove 12 hours a day non-stop, and for someone on their own that is a big accomplishment.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach that sometimes when things seem rough in life, it always turns out okay for some miraculous reason...
Learn the different ways of this world...every culture...
Share whatever you may ask...I'm seriously an open book.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Ha, this is funny! Well, my hosts would probably say that I can talk a lot. So I'm not the type of person who has awkward silences. I can share my adventures in Europe and share what it's like being an American expat living in France. Trust me, I have quite a few stories to tell! I love food...any and all kinds though I'm learning more about changing my diet.

So good conversations, stories, food, maybe a present, and maybe you'll see your kitchen sparkly clean...unless you don't want that, of course!!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Portugal, Scotland, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States

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