My name is Prince and I am 22.

WEBSITE: http://prshakur.com
YOUTUBE: https://goo.gl/x1DmFy

I grew up in Ohio in a poor city and learned from an early age about a lot of the unfair things in life. A lot of my family were undocumented and the United States, and were deported. My mother worked very hard to put me through school and I found my love for writing. In college, I dove head first into my creativity - participating in poetry slams, organizing writing groups, and photography. I became more social and made lots of friends, which introduced me to many people who care deeply about social justice. In my last two years of college, I joined many activist groups on my campus, ran for Student Senate president, organized campaigns about college costs on my campus and even wrote a column for my school newspaper for a full semester.

While in college, I spent a summer working in Yellowstone National Park. This was one of my first transformative experiences as a traveler. I took at 2 day bus ride (which was horrible!) across the country and meet other amazing young people who care deeply about travel.

During my senior year, I traveled to Costa Rica with a friend and was exposed for the first time to being in a place where I didn't know the language. This altered my view intensely on travel and gave me an amazing respect for anyone who is bilingual.

After graduating college with an English degree, I have dedicated myself to my writing, video making, photography, and social justice work. I worked at ski resorts in Montana, lived in a Seattle for almost a year and traveled abroad. In April of 2016, I took my first big trip abroad alone and visited three countries (France, Spain and Budapest). Not only did this help me grow as a person, but I fell in love, met many amazing people and got to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time (definitely cried in awe while there because it seemed like I dream I'd never get to LIVE)

I am currently a freelancer writer for places like TEEN VOGUE, INTO, DAILY DOT, and OUTSIDE MAGAZINE. I love going out, taking photographs of cities or portraits of people, having a nice conversation over coffee or visiting any bookstore (haha, I studied English Literature, remember?). I am also gay and love meet other queer people when I travel.

Overall, I consider myself to be a person that takes the gift of life very seriously. I think that many people my age feel trapped by things that society tells them to do or be. We go to school, pay bills, and then hope to live out our dreams in the distant future. I want to spent my 20's (and the rest of my life, haha) developing myself into the kind of person that I would be proud to meet.

If I sound cool, let me sleep on your couch and I hope we have amazing conversations. This is my first real time trying to use Couchsurfing, so I am excited and a little nervous.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

After growing up in Jamaica and seeing the weirdness of tourism culture, I've dedicated myself to traveling as cheaply as possibly. Aside from being your average U.S. college graduate in debt, I find that meeting people from the places I am going to enriches me more than anything. My favorite part of travel is easily the feeling of JUMPING INTO ANOTHER CULTURE OR OTHER PERSON'S LIFE with as much respect and intrigue as possible. I travel cheap and love it because of the experiences that it brings me.

Interests

Reading, Writing, Dancing, Watching Movies, Eating Greasy Food, or Just a Wonderful Conversation

• writing
• photography
• movies
• videomaking

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

Daniel Caesar
Frank Ocean
The Lumineers
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
Aretha Franklin
Leon Bridges

Movies:

The Motorcycle Diaries
Titanic

Books:
Angela Davis's Autobiography
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
On the Road
Desert Solitaire
Bright Lights, Big City

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived in Standing Rock for a month to help water protectors against Dakota Access Pipeline

What I Can Share with Hosts

I LOVE film photography, so I can always take a portrait of whatever host allows me to sleep on their couch.

My stories of growing up in the U.S. in Caribbean family.
Experiences in college as a community organizer.
Stories from living in Seattle, WA.
My time in France (April 2016)

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, France, Hungary, Jamaica, Philippines, South Korea, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Philippines, United States