Hi I'm Léa. I've been hosting and surfing since 2006.

ABOUT ME

I think life is a very interesting experience if you get out there and put your heart at it without fear.

I've lived on 4 continents, I've visited many more countries and connected with all types of cultures. I love to travel, but also at home I love to hear or read about other's travels and experiences.

I like irony, wine, and cheese, altogether. I'm a social butterfly. I love to meet new people and feel that we live in a small world. I look into people's eyes when I speak (and when I cheer too!). I treat everyone as a friend until proven wrong. Make me laugh and I'll seek your company, and when people praise your actions behind your back, you'll have my respect. What makes my eyes sparkle? The smell of adventure and the taste of the unknown

PHILOSOPHY

Nothing lasts forever! Enjoy the good times without fearing bad times, both of them will keep going at their own pace. Don't be self-centered when you're having a good time, share it with everybody, make people laugh, help when you can. And don't act proud when you're in a bad time, give people a chance to help you, they will!
But don't pretend being someone you're not! Assume being a jerk sometimes, you're not a super-hero :)
Kindness brings kindness. I also believe that success is not measured by your position in life but by the amount of challenges you overcame :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I was a Country Ambassador in the US, promoting couchsurfing to people who should enjoy this way of traveling and meeting people, and helping new couchsurfers to join the parties/enjoy their time with their guests. I helped the NYC CS community to become an overwhelming family feeling, and together we organized parties, travels and guest-sharing, and talked to the media sometimes

I'm very proud of the Couch Crash Festival '08, and could talk to you at length about it

After 7 years a bit more distant from Couchsurfing, I've decided it's time to open up my couch to a few like-minded travelers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Since I signed up to Couchsurfing, I opened my house to a lot of people :) No figure could describe the wonderful feeling that you can have when you come back home to find a loud mess of countries, people cooking, drinking and chatting to exchange tips.

If you've ever been to backpackers hostels in Cambodgia, found yourself at 7pm resting on the couches at the bar and making friends with everyone, with a good cold beer in your hand, you know what this feeling is!

I've hosted more than 200 people and lost sense of sleeping privacy in the process :) I shared my pad, floor surface, tent, couch and bed in multiple occasions. I got stolen a few times, I had to kick some people out, but I also met my best friends and made my most meaningful connections that way. I've couchsurfed a lot too, and even put my cat on Couchsurfing.

I firmly believe that CS shouldn't be used with the intention of dating, or just to save money, but to open yourself to the life of the locals of the city you visit. It's an immersive experience.

Interests

It's like I have a huge interest in putting myself into desperate situations then try to deal with them the best I can :) ... Losing my credit card in Vietnam or my passport in the US have been my most interesting travel memories so far, and Brazil brought some good backpacking stories.
Randomly I love to meet people, have fun, have a beer, go snowboarding or surfing, spend all night talking about everything and nothing, have another beer, laugh at people, help with all my heart, talk shit, believe that I can change the world, eat cheese & wine, make wishes, realize my dreams, slam a door, dance, tease girls, hack, have a fuckin' beer, be drunk, face death in stupid ways, laugh to tears, love, cook, organize parties, have funny stories to tell on a sunday morning, be independent, feel alive, enjoy the present ...

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies : A map for Saturday, Crash, V for Vendetta, Miyazaki's animation movies, Disney :)
Music : Daft Punk, Muse, Coldplay, Placebo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, Ruda Salska, Tryo, Cowboys Fringuants ... Everything that has an electrical guitar or a trumpet, with an entertaining rythm. When it's early in the morning I also love sitting on a couch, talking about dreams or memories while listening to accoustic guitar :) And now I like Samba too!
Books : Fairy Tales !! And almost every book which have a deep philanthropic message in the end. Also love travel books or blogs. Specially when written by sailors.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

An incredible journey through identity and gender

But I also swimmed with turtle and manta ray in south pacific, spent a night drinking with a random tuk-tuk driver in a far suburb of Bangkok, spent two month living without money in Vietnam, had an awesome picnic in the parisian subway, quit my job to live up to my dreams, witnessed the creativity of New Yorkers, had a pub crawl with 1000+ Santa Claus, managed a bar, made improbable friends, learnt scuba-diving, jumped off a plane, taught English overseas, started my own business and succeeded, saw animals of all shapes and colors, learnt a new language but still think that the most amazing is for tomorrow!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach : French, english, some cooking
Learn : Samba, surf
Share : some nice hidden places in the city, so many stories....

"Jokhon more jabe, thokhon ghumobe." (Bengali)
"Shte spish kato umresh" (Bulgarian)
"Spavat ćeš kad umreš!" (Croatian)
"Du kan sove når du dør" (Danish)
"Je kunt slapen als je dood bent" (Dutch)
"You'll sleep when you're dead" (English)
"Tu dormiras quand tu seras mort" (French)
"Schlafen kannst du immer noch, wenn du tot bist" (German)
"tishan qshe ta-moot" (hebrew)
"Jab tum mar jaoge, tab sona" (Hindi)
"Dormirai da morto" (Italian)
"Chukye daymun young wonhi chagae dwin da" (Korean)
"Pamiegosi kai numirsi" (Lituanian)
"Du vil sove når du er død" (Norwegian)
"wyspisz sie po smierci" (Polish)
"Dormiras quando estiveres morto" (Portuguese)
"Mozhesh spat kogda umryosh" (Russian)
"Dormiras cuando estes muerto" (Spanish)
"Du kan sova när du är död" (Swedish)
"Ölünce bol bol uyursun" (Turkish)
"Meeoooooooooooooooooooooooowww Psssff pssff" (Cat dialect)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, France, United States, Viet Nam

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