CURRENT MISSION

independence and bliss

ABOUT ME

I'm a curious, grateful, lover of life. The best moments for me are when learning, new things, beauty and joy all converge in the same moment - when a smile springs onto my face and i feel absolutely alive. This is why I travel, there is nothing better to me than meeting a new friend in a new place doing a new activity, while trying to speak a new language and tasting a new flavour!

I care about a lot of things... I love natural spaces and often feel sad about how damaged we leave them. I feel all animals (including humans) pain and fear deeply and want to help. I care about honesty, kindness, how you really feel, what you really want to see in the world. I want to make some positive difference in my life. I can be achingly earnest, but at the same time I love to play! And the older I get, the more I feel like a beginner...

I have an auto-immune condition that means I am sometimes in a lot of pain and need rest. So this is something I am learning to balance while travelling. I really appreciate being able to have some alone time and gentle mornings to practise some yoga as this really helps me stay in health. But then sometimes there is nothing more healthy than dancing until dawn!
Also... I don't talk as much as my profile might suggest. I find it difficult to describe myself so my descriptions got long. Sorry!

PHILOSOPHY

*I am lucky!!

* It's all good in the end. If it's not all good, it isn't the end.

* "There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." -George Byron

* "You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any
direction you choose." -Dr Seuss

* "The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." - Socrates on minimalism

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At the moment I'm a surfer, but I love being involved as a host too, when my living situation allows it.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have done a bit of couchsurfing on previous travels and loved it all! It's such a beautiful symbiotic experience, and the more you give and get into it, the better it gets! I also really appreciate the opportunity to get straight to the good stuff... the insider knowledge of a place! I like to travel independently, so having local knowledge on where to go and how to get there is indispensable. I find it opens up more 'random' experiences as well!

One of my favourite experiences was staying with a wonderful Chilean friend in his grandma's house in the foothills of the Andes in a tiny village. We went on a HUGE adventure into the mountains, with very little water or idea of where we were going ("this path is a bit boring, lets just walk towards that dip in the mountain over there...") and ended up at a reclusive musicians amazing oasis paradise where he plied us with wine and then drove us home, in the dark down a roadless mountain, trying to avoid mules, with classical music blasting out of his tiny jeep. Amazing!!

When I have a home I am always open to receive travellers... I live in a fantastic place and want others to experience the best of it. It's always a good excuse to go on an adventure, whether to a new spot or revisit my favourite places with new eyes.

Interests

I'm fairly easy to get interested in things, and most of all love to learn about what others are passionate about. But for me, some top interests are - music, dancing, cooking, animals, learning, eating, reading, deep conversations, totally crazy conversations, horse-riding, nature, laughing, adventures, ...
I am really interested in living in a way that is both expansive, novel, culturally rich and diverse, and also grounded, sustainable, humble and connected. I recently bought land and was very excited to begin putting into place my dreams of creating food resilience, sustainable livelihood, off grid living and community development. Unfortunately my relationship ended and my partner is keeping the land, so I am back in expansive, cultural exploration, travel mode! Life is about balance...

• animals
• beauty
• dancing
• environment
• cooking
• yoga
• reading
• traveling
• minimalism
• music
• mountains
• healthy living
• foraging
• sustainable living
• alternative living
• solutions

Music, Movies, and Books

pretty much everything in all categories!
I'm tending to steer clear of horror/murder/violence in books and movies - it's not really something I want to bring into my life, there is enough violence as it is in the world. I like documentaries, art films, short films, comedy, whimsical stories, films about music and dance... and same general interests in literature.
In music, my tastes are pretty wide too! In the last couple of years I've been really loving electronica, but also blues, dub, social/politically minded hip hop, folk, bluegrass, reggae, some classical... I love most 'world music', though I dislike using that term - 'the rest of the world that doesnt speak english and plays strange instruments in weird ways'. I haven't figured out my own term to replace it yet though!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I bungy-jumped! And I'm afraid of heights so that made it especially amazing. The moment of looking out from that platform, trying not to look down but being supremely aware there was a lot of that direction to look into, then taking a deep breath and jumping...holy crap!

In Nepal I paraglided... paraglid? ... It was breath-takingly beautifully incredible, soaring about 5 metres behind a huge himilayan vulture on our way up a thermal, seeing my shadow in the centre of a circular rainbow, feeling the wind rushing through my hair, rollercoasting down in a mad spiral towards the lake... wow. More...

I visited a destroyed monastery in Mongolia. It was about 6 hours drive from Ulanbaatar, in the middle of nowhere, then an hour and halfs walk up a mountain pass... it was destroyed by the Russians when they invaded Mongolia because religion was the enemy of communism. They did an amazingly good job of hunting out all the monasteries and killing most of the monks - this place was so far from anywhere, so quiet, so peaceful with eagles flying overhead, and so incredibly beautiful. but heartbreaking and terribly eerie to know its history... probably amplified by the mournful howling of wolves as we walked down to our ger. The whole experience touched me really deeply.

oh... ONE amazing thing. whoops.

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to learn - how to play the mandolin, better spanish, how to cook a souffle, why chewing gum is sticky, more about the mechanics of black holes and engines, tribal dance...

I can share - how to make dreadlocks, how to cook a delicious risotto, basic horsemanship, basic yoga, a smile and an ear. I can teach EFT, a self-healing modality using acupressure and psychological reversal. It's been amazingly beneficial in my life, and I'd love to offer it to anybody who is interested. And i love giving massage...basically whatever it takes to get into your kitchen ;)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'll do the dishes! And I love to cook for people :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Fiji, France, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, Philippines, Sweden, United Kingdom

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