CURRENT MISSION

To experience life and be open to the world.

ABOUT ME

I've worked at Saint Louis University since 2006 and love to travel when I can. I grew up in Hazelwood (north suburb of St. Louis), moved to Arizona, then to Colorado where I ended up going to school in Boulder. While in school at CU I studied a semester in Dublin, Ireland and a semester in Athens, Greece. That is the year I really discovered how much I enjoy traveling.

I moved back home to St. Louis in 2006 after my temporary work visa in Ireland ran out (I loved it there so much when I studied a semester I went back to work after finishing school for a few). I have enjoyed countless road trips in the US and try to save up for some fun big trips as well.

PHILOSOPHY

To thine own self be true. Not always easy, but my life lessons all seem to boil down to this.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Well, I have to say when a friend of mine told me about couchsurfers, I thought this can't be safe. But then I traveled with two friends who are couchsurfers to Greece and Turkey and had such a great time with the people we met through their couchsurfing connections. It was great for the budget, but truly amazing to have the local experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In the trip described above we stayed with some lovely people in Athens and Izmir. Surfed through Nova Scotia last summer and it was a blast. Have gotten to host a few folks and that has been really great too - so far all positive experiences!

Interests

rescuing shelter pets ~ anything to do with water ~ gardening ~ reading ~ movies ~ live music ~ dancing ~ archaeology ~ hiking ~ seeing the world (travel or in my back yard) ~ bbqs ~ festivals ~ road trips ~ people ~ outdoors

• pets
• festivals
• dancing
• gardening
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• bouldering
• music
• live music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• road trips
• working visa

Music, Movies, and Books

I love a wide variety of music. I love live music. Even crappy live music. I just love being outside and hearing music in the air. Something about someone bearing their soul in the background of a public place draws me in. I probably mostly gravitate to rock/ alternative: Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford and Sons, Foo Fighters. But I also like some folksy stuff like Gillian Welch, Muddy Ruckus and Pokey LaFarge and I will always hold a place in my heart for Cat Stevens, Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and Van Morrison. Don't judge.

Books, also a wide variety. I do love a good serious book but to be quite honest, I most often read mindless fiction lately. Maybe I have no depth. Or I am just tired when I get home from work/ school. Some all time favs and newer ones that grabbed my attention are Dan Brown, Mark Twain, Anne Rice, Tolkien, Maeve Binchy, Clive Cussler, Khaled Hosseini and whoever wrote the Historian.

Movies - love em. I used to go out to the movies more, now I am more of a netflix kinda gal.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I love seeing natural wonders that make me feel small and insignificant. A few such geologically unique places for me are: The Grand Canyon/ Arches National Park (stayed there once on a clear night with a full moon, it was absolutely amazing); Meteora, Greece; The Cliffs of Moher in Ireland and Cappadocia, Turkey (my friends who inspired the couchsurfing and I did a hot air balloon there, also amazing).

Teach, Learn, Share

I think I am more in a learning phase at the moment. Perhaps I will update when I have more to teach.....

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Belize, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Greece, Ireland, United States

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