Hey! :) My name is Sandra and I'm a 29-year-old Spanish girl. I'm from Santander, a small city on the north coast of Spain, even though I like to say that my heart belongs in many different places and to very different people.

I studied Translation and Interpreting (yay, I'm a language lover!) in the Basque Country. I've been an Erasmus in England, an au-pair in Germany, a volunteer in Bulgaria, a language assistant in Austria, a teacher in China, a digital nomad in Turkey and now I just completed 2 around the world voyages by ship as a volunteer with a Japanese NGO. As you can see, I can't stay in the same place for more than some months! I adapt myself very easily to new situations, so maybe that's why I'm always looking for new challenges.

My goal is to travel the world, discover interesting cultures and meet amazing people to keep proving my point further- we humans are all the same! No matter our age, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, culture, you name it... we all cry, laugh and love for the same reasons. We all are in the same world trying our best to survive and striving for our own and our loved ones' happiness. The more people I meet, the more sure I am of my claim.

I guess now I have to describe myself...
I'd say I have personality traits of both an extrovert and an introvert. I love meeting new people, engaging in interesting conversations and partying as if the world was gonna end soon, but I also need a lot of 'me time' to enjoy my hobbies, which are learning languages on my own, writing about whatever crosses my mind , reading about everything and anything that makes me learn, working out...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My motto is: "When in Rome, do as the Romans".
That is, I want to completely soak in a new culture and experience it as if I were a local myself. As I said above, I can adapt myself pretty well to new situations, so I always try my best to learn about different cultures so as to blend in as much as I can.

I really like the give-and-take initiative that Couchsurfing offers. Today I stay at yours, and tomorrow I'll receive someone in my house. That's how ideally the world should always work, and not only in terms of hosting!

****I haven't been able to host anyone yet due to a lack of space and a lack of flatmates that share this couchsurfing philosophy, but I can't wait to start hosting people as soon as possible and give back the kindness that all my hosts have shown me!****

I was a surfer in:
Münster, Germany- August 2015
Bilbao, Spain- December 2015
Thessaloniki, Greece- September 2016
Meran, Italy- November 2016
Salzburg, Austria (x2 hosts)- December 2016
Graz, Austria- March 2017
Barcelona, Spain- August 2017
Xi'an, China- November 2018
Van, Turkey-July 2021
Mardin, Turkey-July 2021
Erbil, Iraq- October 2021
Akre, Iraq- October 2021
Dohok, Iraq- October 2021
Suleymanya, Iraq- October 2021
Bari, Italy- April 2022

Interests

I'm addicted to learning languages! I love everything that has to do with languages and I've even taught myself a few of them. I don't think there's a better way to understand the mentality and way of living of a nation than by learning its language.

Of course, I also love travelling! Otherwise I wouldn't be here! I'm the kind of person that always travels with a limited budget: I usually take the cheapest bus, sleep at the cheapest hostel and eat the cheapest food whenever I travel. And it's not only about saving a few bucks- I am positive that travelling in this way makes one focus on the important things, which for me are getting to know the culture and spending time with the locals and other travellers.

• culture
• reading
• traveling
• music
• languages
• study abroad
• volunteering
• food
• party

Music, Movies, and Books

Harry Potter biggest fan ever here! Apart from that, I've read all kind of books. I also love learning new things, so you will usually find me reading about any random topic that I stumble upon.

My favourite films are Grease and Titanic. I also love the series Black Mirror!!! Clever, thought-provoking and never leaves anyone indifferent.

When it comes to music, I listen to literally any kind of music out there. I really love listening to music in different languages, and don't be surprised if I can sing songs in Turkish, Korean, Finnish or Basque!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I completed two around the world voyages by ship as a volunteer for Peace Boat, a Japanese NGO!
I guess not much compared to what some people out there have achieved.
I haven't climbed any super high mountains, diven into any of the deepest lakes in the world or swum with sharks, but I guess I have had quite a few cool experiences during all these years living in different places :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some Spanish or even random words in any language you can think of!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Laos, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Bulgaria, China, Germany, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom