CURRENT MISSION

Love more, fear less; float more, steer less.

ABOUT ME

All about me?

Travel. Lots and lots of travel as often as possible.

My greatest passion is the outdoors. I spend inordinate amounts of time outside - mountaineering, rock-climbing, kayaking, backpacking, biking, scuba diving, and my new love - skiing! I have a semi-permanent goggles/sunglasses tan which is by turns amusing, epic, and tragic. I love to dance, play Scrabble, make uterus-themed art, bake vegan goodies, people-watch, and over-accessorize.

I have a special place in my heart for everything Burning Man taught me about myself, art, love, and community. I've now been three times and don't imagine I'll stop going.

I landed my dream job as a wilderness therapy field guide which brought me to Durango from my home of Portland, OR. I believe in the unlimited healing potential of time in the outdoors. I also work for the National Outdoor Leadership School as a backpacking and mountaineering instructor.

Tattoos! I have many of them! I have passages from Walt Whitman, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hafiz, Audre Lorde, Edward Abbey, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Kahlil Gibran, and T.S. Eliot on me. Also, a garlic bulb. And the molecular structure of capsaicin. (Related note: I am a spicy food junkie. JUNKIE. And a large thigh piece of Ganesh.

I am a huge sucker for bright colors and RAINBOWS.

PHILOSOPHY

Love more, fear less; float more, steer less.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm up to host whenever I'm in town (which, admittedly, is not all that often).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Met a ton of wonderful CSers in San Francisco, and was proud to call several my friends in Portland.

Interests

Music, outdoor shows, YOGA, mountains, rainbows, climbing, Burning Man, festivals, road trips, camping, the desert, making patches and t-shirts, teaching myself to screenprint, the occasional political debate, playing Scrabble, graffiti, hiking, snorkeling, whitewater rafting, exploring cathedrals, Arabic poetry, banjos, veganism, feminism, dinosaurs, beat poets, baking, reading, trying to knit, bellydancing, martial arts, local art, drumming

• arts
• poetry
• tattoos
• festivals
• dancing
• womens rights
• dining
• cooking
• baking
• vegan
• yoga
• instructor
• walking
• boating
• reading
• traveling
• knitting
• music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• kayaking
• camping
• mountaineering
• whitewater rafting
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• skiing
• martial arts
• rock climbing
• teaching
• tourism
• road trips
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

This would be far too extensive to list individually.

Music: Electro, deep house, dubstep, glitch hop, tech house, acidcrunk, crunkfunk, bass-chakra-therapy, tech house, reggae, hip-hop, bluegrass, punk, psychobilly, funk, jazz, blues, alt-country, folk. Anything, really. I'll let you know my favorites.

Movies: City of God, Cool Hand Luke, The Red Violin, Triplets of Bellville, Pi, Habla Con Ella, L'Auberge Espagnole, Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Mala Educacion, Paradise Now, Salaam Bombay, You Can Count On Me, Amadeus, Hamlet, Twin Peaks, Wet Hot American Summer, Maria Full of Grace. I'll watch anything once.

Books: I *adore* non-fiction. Biographies, ecopsychology, gender studies, cultural studies, pirate history, anything about the Middle East, radical movements (I've been reading a lot about the Black Panthers recently), food politics, etc. Lonely Planet travel guides. Anything ever written by Edward Abbey. Books about space. Carl Sagan.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Most recently, walking the Camino de Santiago across the entirety of Spain, and completing my Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in India.

The Sea of Dunes in Mauritania. Standing on a dune in the middle of the Sahara, absolutely overcome with the sheer enormity of the world.

Camped on the coast of Africa under a sky filled with more stars than I have ever seen.

Walked the Great Wall of China. Seen the Taj Mahal. Walked the streets of New Delhi. Ridden my share of camels and elephants. Sipped salep while boating on the Bosphorus.

Standing at the summit of an honest-to-god, snow-capped mountain. Which I climbed.

Watching the Man burn.

My life seems to be one amazing thing after another.

visited 27 states (12%)Create your own visited map of The World or another interesting project

visited 42 states (84%)Create your own visited map of The United States or another interesting project

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a yoga teacher and love sharing the knowledge I have of it (although I'm still just beginning my yoga journey). Self-defense (two black belts!), cooking/baking (of the vegan variety), wilderness first aid (I can teach you all sorts of creative ways to build splints with backpacking gear). I can help you make a flint and steel fire! I'm also a mediocre willow basket maker.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, China, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Italy, Japan, Mauritania, Mexico, Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bahrain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States