Well, erm, I suppose I should start by saying I hate these types of questions. There are two things that strike fear deep into the heart of a British person. Number one is dropping your biscuit in your tea. Number two, having to make yourself sound interesting to a bunch of strangers. This is like the online equivalent of 'let's go around the room and we'll all give our names and one interesting fact about ourselves'. But I will try my best.

So, I grew up in and around Manchester, moved to Hull for university and never moved back. I've been living and working as in au pair in Brussels for the last three years. I never know how to describe myself, so I asked the kids for some help. I got 'bossy when you make me do my homework, but fun the rest of the time' from the eldest. The middle one said that I 'make really good pancakes' (I've never made her pancakes, so that might not be much help). And the youngest decided that I 'do the best funniest voices for stories, I'm really pretty, but sometimes I look like I have a baby in my belly'. (So much for my self esteem... I guess that's the last time I ask an 8 year old for an honest answer!)

I still think myself to be a novice traveller. I didn't go abroad until I was 23, unless you count a disaterous school trip to France, where I almost ended up buying 200 melons... I finally took myself to Paris, after waiting for a series of boys to fulfil their promise to take me. Whilst there, it seems I got bitten by the wanting to see and experience something different bug. So much so that a few months later I quit my job and moved abroad. I think I really was the best thing I have ever done. It's given me the chance to do and experience so many things that I wouldn't have done if I'd stayed in England.

I've been steadily working my way through Europe over the last few years. I've been introduced to hitchhiking, and I've become quite a fan. It's unpredictable, you never know who you're going to meet, or where you will end up, but you get to meet so many people you wouldn't meet any other way. My favourite ride was through a hail storm in Poland, by a nun who only spoke Polish, us, none. Her car was full to the brim with empty jam jars, but she still insisted we get in and she would drive us. We ended up on the phone speaking (in awful French) to a priest she knew, so she would know where to drop us off. I wouldn't have had that in England...

My second favourite method of travelling is by train. I really really like trains. Not in a train spotting kind of way. I just like being on train. And watching train documentaries. And train staff uniforms... actually, it may be a bit of an unhealthy obsession. But there is just something inherently romantic about travelling through Europe by train. It gives me the chance to pretend that I'm a heroine in an early 20th century novel.

But anyway, all of these adventures have been done with friends. I'm currently looking forwards to stretching my wings and going it alone. After all, I should be a big girl by now

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I originally joined when I first moved to Brussels, Using the social meeting and events as a way to meet people and find friends (and a fiancé, as it turns out, so that was a happy bonus...). But since being here, the travel bug has bitten hard, so I think I'm ready to take it to the next level and actually spend some time with and get to know a bit about the lives of people out in the big wide world, well, the European part of it anyway.

I'm not big on the whole party scene or large groups of people, so sometimes I find hostels really intimidating. I end up spending the night sitting in the corner, watching people and wishing I knew the right way to join in (I'm working on that though. 'Hi, I'm Sam' should do, right?). I already feel like I'm taking myself outside of my comfort zone by planning so much time travelling alone, when the most I've done solo before is a two day city break. So, I'd like to be able meet people and spend some time with them in a bit more of a low key, intimate way. And, of course, spending time with locals allows you to experience a place in a way that being with other travellers/tourists doesn't. They can provide you with insights about the country/city, tell you about the best hidden gems to visit and hopefully which local cheeses are suitable for vegetarians. Th most important there obviously being the cheese...

Interests

Well, I think my number on hobby is definitely eating. My biggest worry about the trip is running out of snacks whilst camping and not being able to replace them instantly. I'm sure half of my bag will be taken up by food. Luckily, working with children celebrates having food on hand at all times! A love of cooking goes hand in hand with a love of eating. I can't promise anything in terms of quality, but I'm enthusiastic and would love to cook something for you. I've also got the whole quantity thing down. My freezer at home is constantly full of leftover, though I always forget to label them. So we spend a lot of time eating 'freezer surprise' at home.

I also love reading. I'm never without a book, it makes me feel incomplete. So, even if you can't host me or meet up, any suggestions of where to get second hand English books in your part of the world would be massively appreciated. Otherwise I may collapse under the strain of carrying enough books to keep me going through the entire trip. (I've tried getting on board with the whole e-reader thing, but it just doesn't work. I have to hold a real book, back strain or no back strain). I'm reading a lot of spy thrillers and detective stories at the minute, John le Carre and Jo Nesbo. How much that has to do with finding a large collection of them in my local second hand shop, I'm not sure... But mostly I like to read anything and everything. The only downside to reading is my still to read book pile seems to constantly be growing. Every book leads to something else I want to read, either to find out more about a topic or to read more by an author I enjoy. But it does mean that I'm constantly learning and discovering new things.

I've rediscovered an old favourite recently. As a child, unfortunately I caused a bit of friction between my two grandmothers, one wanted me to go to church with her on Sunday mornings, the other to carboot sales. The bargain hunting won out, after an unfortunate incident with the girl from down the street. Five year old Sam was not happy to be told that playing chase down the aisle was not appropriate. Now I can quite happily spend entire weekends trailing round charity shops, flea markets and car boot sales (providing I have enough snacks, of course). Nothing compares to the thrill of finally finding that item you've been hunting for (or never knew you needed until you saw it), haggling down the price and walking away with a satisfied smile. Until you find the next one, that is.

Another new addition is doing crafty stuff. I've always been very enthusiastic about diy decorations and the like, just not very good at actually pulling it off. Pinterest is the stuff of nightmares for me. I see something, like it, decide I want to make it. Only it never turns out anything like the photo. Is that just me? But recently I've found a few things I can do and actually look good, (I can make map flowers like a beast now. I'm even considering adding it to my cv, along with can name every character from Barbie princess films...) so I've fallen in love. I'm sure it won't take long until I get too ambitious, make something that looks awful again and give up. But for now I'm riding the wave of crafty success!

• crafts
• reading
• hitchhiking
• food
• fleamarkets

Music, Movies, and Books

This is probably the question I've been dreading the most. I couldn't possibly name a favourite book. There are just far far too many. There hasn't been a single book ( or at least not one I can think of right now) I haven't enjoyed reading a second time. Though the first time is a different kettle of fish. (I'm lucky that I manage to forget major plot lines pretty easily, so the ending still manages to be a surprise time after time. Though even if I do remember the end, I love taking the journey there again). I do have a book related ambition though. I really want to learn enough Russian to read Anna Karenina. I have no idea why, as a young teenager I decided that I wanted to and I've not managed to do many of the things I thought I would back then, so this seems as good as any. Though, right now, I think I would settle for knowing enough Russian to watch The Americans without the subtitles. Both of those dreams remain a long way off, however, so far I've only really managed to get to grips with the alphabet and asking for noodles with mushrooms!

Music wise, I suppose I'm still a bit of an angsty 17 year old. I still enjoy listening to the same (mainstream) indie, pop punk and soft metal that I listened to then. I spent 3 years managing a metal night club and that didn't persuade me to go heavier, so I guess I'll always be stuck in the beginner metal category. (My eyeliner skills too, for that matter). But I also enjoy nothing more than belting out 80s power ballads into a hairbrush, into the privacy of my own living room, complete with emotional dance moves, just so long as no one else is home. One day, one day I will be able to manage to imitate the pure gravel of Bonnie Tyler's voice. I guess it's not so much of a guilty 'secret' anymore!

I don't really watch that many films. I find they don't really hold my attention so much much. (Though I do occasionally binge watch tv shows. The Americans, Broadchurch and Black Sails being the most recent). I do have to admit that I'm one of those really annoying people who will watch a film and the tell you all of the things they did different to in the book and how I think the book is much better. I know, I know, I'm sorry, I just can't help it. But my favourite films are The Pianist (have you read the book, by the way? It's surprisingly short for a film so long. One of the rare occasions they put more in the film than was in the book) and Up. Even though I spend the whole time watching them in floods of tears. Maybe that says something about me as a person. I do the same thing every day reading the news., yet I still do it. To be honest I'm looking forwards to a bit of a break from the media whilst travelling, just to give my year glands a bit of a break.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing that I've done, though it might not sound a lot to many people, I'm sure there are so many people who have done more exciting or interesting amazing things, is moving to Brussels. I left behind my family, my friends, my fairly nice pension fund... pretty much on a whim. I, for once, managed to ignore the sensible part of me, which was telling me it was a terrible idea. It was silly, it wasn't sensible, I should really think about having a stable future, all the rest of those boring worries you have. But I didn't listen, and I'm so glad I didn't. I'll admit for the first couple of months I was convinced I'd made a terrible mistake. I was lonely, I was scared to talk to people in case they laughed at my French (I'm sure they still do, I just care less now), all the official things I was supposed to do we're going wrong (those of you with experience if Belgian paperwork should understand. Nothing ever runs smoothly. In fact I've been here for almost 3 years now, and they're still managing to stall on finalising my residency documents...) and I was caught up in an endless cycle of beaurocracy, being passed from one person to another until I ended up right back where I started. But now I so many amazing friends, I've experienced so many new things and made so many fantastic memories. I hope I've managed to make a different life for myself here. That is something I never though I would be capable of doing and something I'm pretty proud of.

Teach, Learn, Share

Ok, I told a lie, just a small one. This was actually the question I was dreading the most. I have no idea if this is the right sort of thing to say, but here goes...

So, teach, erm, I'm not sure... I can teach you how to make a decent cup of tea (to my standards, at least). If anyone ever tells you to put the milk in first, that's a shameful lie. If you have a glue gun and some scissors handy, I can probably manage to teach you how to make a pretty good map flower. And I can try my best to help you out with any tricky bits of English grammar. I'm no expert, but I've been studying it quite a bit more in depth to be able to explain to the girls I work with.

I'm always open to discovering new things, so I'd love to learn about almost anything you can teach me, just so long as it's not too active. My little legs start to rebel after too much activity. I'd love to know more about your culture, where you live, local customs, travel recommendations, new vegetarian foods to try, authors you enjoy reading, ways to act more confidently than you feel, that illusivevway to correctly introduce yourself to a large group of people... I could be here all day.

Share? Well, I will be travelling with an insane amount of tea bags, I'm sure I'll have plenty of those to go round. I'd love to share some food with you, it always tastes better if eaten with other people, don't you think? And finally (despite saying I'm not very good at knowing what to say, I've managed to say an awful lot. Whether it's interesting or not, I can't tell. You can let me know), I can share with you enough stories about my adventures whilst travelling (did I tell you about the crazy bloke in Italy who took us to 'Las Vegas', whilst breaking every driving law I could name?) to put even the most ardent insomniac to sleep. Sounds good right? Maybe you can share yours too?

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, United Kingdom