Hello!
We're a Canadian couple in our early-to-mid 20's (23 and 25) who are currently on a 2-year-ish long trip around New Zealand, Australia, and Asia.
We're both very outgoing, friendly, and generally pretty happy and positive people!
Before travelling, we both worked at IKEA in Canada. Shannon finished her Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and Biology shortly before we left. Reid had travelled Australia for a year in 2011/2012 and then was working to save money for this trip! When he gets home from his travels he plans to do an apprenticeship in Joinery/Cabinetmaking.
We both love traveling, hiking, camping, music, meeting new people and hanging out with friends!
We're both passionate about the environment and both eat vegetarian, just a heads-up.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We've just travelled New Zealand in a van for 15 months! Now we're in Australia and are hoping to do some couch surfing here (and in the rest of the world)!
We're both very new to couchsurfing, having our first experience in Adelaide and loved it! We're looking forward to couchsurfing more in our travels and hosting people when we get back to Canada!
We'd really like to do couch-surfing rather than staying in hostels because we feel it's a better way to meet local people, and hear about the area from a local perspective rather than from other travelers.
Both of us have traveled a fair amount before and feel that the worst part is leaving a country and not feeling that you actually got to know any local people. We hope we don't have to do that anymore!

Interests

As mentioned in the About Me, we both love hiking, camping, traveling, music, hanging out with friends and meeting new people! Also board games, we love board games. We've done a lot of hiking/tramping/camping during our time in New Zealand (and now a bit in Australia) and could definitely offer some advice if you ever plan to go there!
Shannon loves everything ocean-related (hence her Environmental Science/Marine Biology degree), dogs and music. We both love nature in general, and love learning about different countries' animals and plants. We're both passionate about the environment and sustainability and love seeing how other people and cultures live their everyday lives.

• animals
• dogs
• wildlife
• environment
• cooking
• vegetarian
• board games
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• biology
• history
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Shannon: I mostly listen to punk rock, pop punk, and folk punk. To name a few bands: RVIVR, Against Me!, Lifetime, PUP, The Menzingers, anything Jeff Rosenstock has ever put out. I'm also a big sucker for ska! Anything from Chris Murray, to Big D and the Kids Table, to Operation Ivy!
I don't watch many movies, but I'm not fussy and generally enjoy anything I do watch! I'm particularly fond of comedy and horror.
As far as books go, I read a lot and I love 'em all! I get pretty into the big, popular fantasy series such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and The Golden Compass. But I also love the classics, like H.G. Wells and Jane Austen. I pretty much like any genre, and welcome recommendations!

Reid: I listen to a pretty wide range of music, and I'm terrible at genres, but I'll try - indie, alternative, experimental, punk, electronic. Some of my favourite musicians are Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, Toro Y Moi, Why?, Washed Out, Beirut, just to give you some varied ideas of my music interests!
I enjoy most movies, but I don't watch a lot of them. My favourite though would have to be Hot Rod with Andy Samberg, it gets me every time.
I don't read a lot, but I've been getting more into it recently! I enjoy books about unusual, f***ed-up characters living their every day lives, generally, but I'll read anything as long as it keeps me entertained.

Both of us, although we wouldn't purchase an album, are suckers for catchy pop as well. Who could deny T. Swift's "22" or "Shake it Off"?

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Shannon: While in Panama, I volunteered for a sea turtle conservation reserve for about a month. Working with the locals who started up and operate the reserve was an amazing, and very rewarding experience. Also seeing a fully grown leatherback sea turtle crawling up the beach in the middle of the night was absolutely incredible!!

Reid: Can't think of one specific event, but probably living in a van for 8 of my 15 months in New Zealand. Traveling, camping and doing as many multi-day/overnight hikes as possible led me to some beautiful, secluded places, amazing mountain ranges and incredible widlife.

Teach, Learn, Share

We can teach you about Canadian wildlife, New Zealand wildlife, the Ocean, vegetarian cooking (it's way better than you think!).

We'd like to learn more about Australian wildlife, history, and anything else you feel we should know!

We'd like to share our experiences traveling in different places, meeting different people, etc.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We can share some delicious vegetarian meals, our experiences traveling and from home, our view on the world and a positive attitude!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, United States, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, New Zealand