Hi,

I'm Raquel Leiva Velasco and I'm 31 years old. You could easily google my name and find that I was a Miss Deaf Australia 2013.

I love travelling and meeting people. But I usually do not make the first move and say hi as I am shy sometimes and literally unsure of what to do and what to say.

I've had my first taste of couch surfing in munich. I was really lucky to find a place to stay as I was pretty broke before I could fly back home to Australia.

And I host deaf backpackers in my spare time and I always help them find work on their working holiday visa to the best I can do. If you have hosted me, I am more likely to host you in return as I'm a firm believer in the saying: "what you give is what you get back in return."

Dlaczego jestem na Couchsurfing

Right now it’s November 2024 - I’m at this precarious point where I’m literally bringing a boyfriend to meet the family for the first time ever especially since it’s for Christmas. I’ve never brought anyone home so it’s a big deal. My parents have asked that I find seperate accomodation for me and my partner to stay at.

When I'm hosting, I always tell my backpackers / guests that "mi casa es su casa" - my home is your home.
And I always will make time for someone to show them around. I always love to find out what my guests like and will make the effort to take them out to places to explore, also that I am a foodie and I always know exactly where is good places to eat at.

I'm not keen for the whole touristy touristy thing, but sights are pretty awesome though, but through local perspective. I really would like to try couchsurfing and decide if it is really safe for a deaf woman such as me to travel on those means.

Zainteresowania

Travel, photography, history, books, food and music.

Food is life, and life is food.

• books
• photography
• dining
• flying
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• surfing
• history
• sign language

Muzyka, filmy i książki

I have two favourite books - it seems kinda niche.

1. A place at the end of the world by Janine Di Giovanni
2. A Fortunate Life by Albert B. Facey

Jedna niesamowita rzecz, którą zrobiłem(-am)

Succeded in learning to read, write, and speak in German as a deaf person. I was told I was too deaf and I wouldn't succeed. Right now I’m trying to learn Spanish 😅

Ucz innych, ucz się sam, udostępniaj

I've worked as a aupair teaching English.

I teach sign language to little kids and anyone I meet whos curious about my language.

Czym mogę się podzielić z gospodarzami

Anything. Just communicate with me about what you are looking for.

Kraje, w których byłem(-am)

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Netherlands, Serbia, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Kraje, w których mieszkałem(-am)

Australia, Croatia, Germany