CURRENT MISSION

I am new orleans

ABOUT ME

**UPDATE no couch available currently except those I have already booked

**NOTICE: I get booked up fast for jazz fest (last weekend in april, first weekend in may) contact me asap if you need a couch anytime during jazz fest ** If you need advice on a cheap hotel please message me. I have stayed at all the cheap hotels in NOLA and know which ones are nasty and how to get the best price.

Hi everyone! This update is Jan 6, 2009. After a LONG time "out of the game" I am BACK on couchsurfing and I have a couch free in New Orleans once again for 1 or 2 people. I would like to add that CS redid the "vouching" system when they launched version 2.0 and my data got reset. For what it's worth, before the system overhaul, I had a lot of people who had vouched for me! I am trustworthy and an open communicator. There is a lot of information below here which is no longer valid. I am in the process of updating it. I am leaving the OLD info for posterity under the dotted line below...Here is my new information.... I was here for Katrina, stayed through August of 2006, then I moved out of New Orleans, to Brooklyn, NY. I just returned to NOLA this past August. I live by myself uptown. My place is small but it has one advantage: location. I am a couple blocks off Magazine St and parade routes. If you want to find out the approx location, look up the intersection of "Louisiana Av" and "Magazine St", zip code 70115, on google maps, that's pretty much my address. I have a car and love showing people around. I have 2 very sweet black cats. On average, I go to New York for work one week per month. During the time I am away I sometimes let surfers stay in my house by themselves in exchange for basic care of my cats (food, water, clean litterbox 1x per day.) Other info about me: my house is very typical NOLA, it is an older house and a bit worn-in, but I keep things very clean. I work from home during the day from 8-5. I usually stick with a 2-night minimum for surfers since I have so many. Also I like to have a day or 2 off between surfers for my own sanity. I have had a lot of fun with this site and I am glad to be back. More updates to come soon!
THINGS TO DO IN NOLA
I am in the process of rewriting my NOLA favorites list (favorite bars, restaurants, sights, etc) - I have to rewrite it from scratch since I lost the old one when my site went down. In the meantime, please look at these links. I have personally written most of the first page. These links might require a login for tripadvisor.com. If you want the info but don't want to signup, email me and I will send you this as text. But, I would recommend signing up for tripadvisor since it's awesome!
NOLA: off the beaten path (local favorite list)
Information on arriving and departing

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Hi! My name is Laura. I know it says I only reply 30 something % of e-mails, but I think it's more... I try to always respond even if it's "no."
MAJOR UPDATE! (4/5/06)
BIG apology to all requests that have gone unanswered. Things have been beyond busy for me these days. I am moving out of my house at the end of May. I'm not yet sure where I'll be going, but I will be in New Orleans at least through July. I will not be around for all of Aug (going to Morrocco, Spain, Portugal, woo hoo!) Also, I have haad to cut back on the number of surfers I can host over time, because of restrictions from my landlord. PLEASE don't hesitate to contact me with your surfing requests; I promise I will do my best to accomodate as many of them as possible. I frequently leave town on weekends and already am booked up for Jazz Fest. I am ALWAYS here to help with suggestions on things to do in NOLA and always willing to meet up for drinks, even if I can't host you. So please contact me and even if I can't work out a situation for you, I have a lot of friends who may be able to help. To all those who sent me a request in the last month or so, I am going through them now trying to answer them.
UPDATE
Thanks to all the awesome people I met through couchsurfing!
I've had many, many great experiences through this site as a host. I've met some amazing people and shared with them the awesome city of New orleans. Couchsurfers are always welcome! I get a LOT of requests. If I answered them all, I'd have someone in my house every night! I do not discriminate except that I am more likely to host you if you know exactly when you will be coming and going. That's because it's hard to juggle a bunch of "maybe's" mentally. I always have a lot of people coming and going and i travel frequently so please, when you contact me, try your best to give me EXACT DATES. it's totally understandable if you're unable to do that, so in that case give me your best approximation. then, as soon as possible before your planned stay, CALL OR E-MAIL me and remind me!
now as far as my accomodations, you should know: my house is not a quiet or low key place generally. i mean, it's not a constant party either, but this is the big easy! people stay up late and yes alcohol is frequently consumed. i'm a little tired of the tourist scene though, i prefer 'local' places. I'll do my best to help you out with places to go and stuff to see. To the degree that you want, i will do my best to entertain you... i'm up for anything, usually.
Mardi Gras:
If you need a place for mardi Gras, everything gets booked up way in advance and accomodations are expensive. it's to your adavantage, if you can, to Plan ahead! Contact me as far ahead as possible. I can take a limited number of people but please understand it will be crowded and you will undoubtedly be on the floor. so bring a sleeping bag and expect comeplete chaos.

PHILOSOPHY

I am a bit neurotic and basically a kind, sensitive person. I love music. I am not artsy but I understand art - I'm like the classic critic in that regard. I don't have much of a plan and I like it that way. I feel that people sometimes make too much of achieving a certain thing by a certain time (getting married... etc) and it causes undue anxiety. A contradiction is that I am a very motivated person. I'd like to make something of myself but am not interested in money - mine or anyone else's. I have much greater respect for intellectual achievements. What I'm really committed to is making emotional connections with other human beings. I came to New Orleans by way of Los Angeles, Boston, New Jersey, Paris and Saudi Arabia. Remember the story of the princess with the long, golden hair who lived high in a tower? Cutting off her flowing tresses won't change her any more than it did in the fairy tale. My demand for freedom is insistent, but my allegiance to anyone who can accept romance/friendship within such limits is boundless. My own code of ethics may be as weird as anything you've ever come across, and somewhat different from the accepted codes of society, but i live up to it totally. Something prevents me from following directions explicitly... I'm always looking for a new way to try things! I have moved around a lot and I'm not afraid of change. Yet, like most other people I am somewhat of a creature of habit. I enjoy the 'European' concept of enjoying day to day life. I prefer mental stimulation over taking a vacation. I think all this makes me down-to-earth, but not necessarily centered. People who are indescribably or subtly 'off' appeal to me. I dislike arrogance more than anything, because I view it as more or less equivalent to ignorance... I feel that we all have something to learn from one another, and if you think you have everyone/everything in the world figured out, then you're WRONG :-)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have mostly been the host. Showed lots of people around New Orleans!

Interests

Road trips. if there was a way, life would just be one continuous road trip.
I like to drink alcohol and coffee and talk about anything and everything with just about anyone.

• cats
• arts
• mardi gras
• causes
• ethics
• dining
• coffee
• working out
• partying
• drinking
• traveling
• juggling
• coding
• music
• jazz
• surfing
• cartography
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

I'M OBSESSED WITH RYAN ADAMS,MIKE PATTON, PHIL ANSELMO, WEEN, QUEEN AND WILCO.
aside from that,too many to list - I live for music. i have been known to wear the same faded ani difranco shirt for the last 5 years! i'm trying to get photographic proof..anyway i like everything, everything. i know nothing about classical and jazz (despite considering myself a new orleanian). vast, beck, distillers, gram parsons, damnwells, neal casal, priest, radiohead, izzy stradlin, jason forrest, u2, kool keith, zappa, pavement, christina aguilera, jellyfish, firewater, bright eyes, elliott smith, emmylou harris, waylon jennnings, the doors, dr dre, boards of canada, down, tom waits, galactic.. i dont listen to the radio too much, don't classify music, just hear something and like it, if it is not popular, too damn bad :-) DO NOT LIKE: nu metal, pop-country, lame rehashed hip-hop (like usher's "yeah" and the like,) most of top40

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany, Taiwan, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Saudi Arabia, United States

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