CURRENT MISSION

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer!

ABOUT ME

I love being outdoors and taking in the monumental sights this planet has to offer. I like to remind myself daily that I'm alive and lucky! I love travelling the world, seeing places I've heard/read about, I love learning about new cultures and forming a first-hand opinion. I find everything Eastern Asian awe-inspiring, from design to cuisine to sociology; visiting Thailand was a dream come true. I'm spiritual but not religious, I'm diplomatic but not political, I'm intelligent but not academic and I'm a teacher not a dictator. I love making things....I get a bit excited about any creative venture I propose, it's the most natural thing to me. I'm sociable and interested in what people have to say. I'm always ready to have a debate and I have an opinion on most things too. I get on with most people, or at least I make the effort to get along with people, which is what it's all about. My mother always told me that manners cost nothing and count for everything!

MY PHILOSOPHY

Respect life! It's a precious gift. Laugh a lot! It's good for your health. DO the things you talk about, GO to the places you want to see and be a YES person!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have been able to surf the couches of the world, and have hosted a few times when I lived in Scotland. Since returning to Liverpool 2 years ago I’ve not hosted. My home is small and I’ve not got a spare bed yet but I’m looking for one and should have one soon.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had only positive experiences on CS. I began surfing in October 2013 with my ex boyfriend and we'd stayed in Dubai, Sydney, Blue Mountains, Adelaide, Auckland, Dunedin, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Redding, San Francisco (again), Redding (again), Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Las Vegas (again), Chicago, New York, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Olkhon Island, Beijing, Shanghai, Adelaide (again), Sydney (again), Auckland (again), Austin - it's been fab! We prefer staying with a host because it's a more authentic experience and they always know little things, have their own favourite places to see/go to that you might never come across. Each host has been very different and amazing in their own way.

Interests

At home I love going to the cinema, dining out, painting, drawing, going for mini-adventures to the countryside, planning events (such as group trips, nights out and parties) and karaoke.

I love travelling and seeing places in the world people have talked about, or that I've read about. Theres nothing quite like a first-hand experience. I enjoy experiencing local cuisine too, from street food to (backpacker) fancy restaurants. Local culture really interests me.

• culture
• design
• dining
• partying
• flying
• movies
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• karaoke
• outdoor activities
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing
• teaching
• law
• sociology
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Amelie, Airplane!, Braindead, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Trainspotting, Scarface, 500 Days of Summer, Howls Moving Castle, Interstellar, anything with Leonardo DiCaprio in, The Explorers, Howard the Duck, Weekend at Bernies...I love 80s movies!

Well, I invested in an Audible subscription this year to tick off a few books Ive been planning to read for ages. Loved ‘Sapiens’, ‘Brave New World’ and ‘The Master And Margarita’ by Bulgakov. Since visiting Russia, I made a promise to become more aware of Russian Literature, after being quite embarrassed I knew non of their famous authors.

Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer. George Mallory is my hero. We took turns reading this while the other person drove on long journeys on our last trip!

Phillip Pullman's Northern Lights & The Subtle Knife. I didn't like the last book of the trilogy hence the exclusion.

'One Day' was a good book too.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Life if filled with too many amazing things to name just one. It's like picking your favourite film; there are just too many to choose from so here's a few:

Me:
Taught English to kids in Nepal;
Hiked for four days in The Andes to Machu Piccu and climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Stepped out on the highest observatory in the world on the Burj Khalifa, Dubai;
Climbed the limestone karsts of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam;
Explored the Tu Lan cave system for 2 days in Vietnam;
Experienced sun rise (and set) over Angkor Wat, Cambodia;
Swam with illuminating plankton at Maya Bay, Thailand;
Drove the Great Ocean Road (both directions) and the Mereenie Loop road in Australia;
Took the Ghan train through the centre of Australia from Alice Springs to Adelaide;
Watched the sun rise (and set) over Uluru (Ayers Rock);
Trekked through the desert and canyons of the Red Centre, Australia;
Snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia;
Jumped out of a plane at 15,000ft over Lake Taupo, New Zealand;
Climbed to the top of Mt. Doom (that's it's name in LOTR movies haha);
Raved for three days at UMF Miami;
Hiked from the Grand Canyon South Rim to the Colorado River and back in a day;
Sailed around San Francisco Bay, California;
Drove through a tree in the Redwoods, California;
Swam in ice-cold water between two continents in the Silfra Fissure, Iceland;
Travelled on the Trans-Mongolian Express from St. Peterburg, Russia, through Mongolia, to Beijing, China;
Hiked part of the Great Baikal Trail around the edge of the world's largest freshwater lake in -15 degrees Celsius blizzards in Russia;
Camped on the Great Wall of China at Gubeikou, watched sunset (and rise), then hiked to Jinshanling;
Slept in a cave and walked the plank at the summit of Hua Shan, China;
MagLeved on the world's fasted commercially operating train in Shanghai, China;
Survived Everest Base Camp in the depths of winter;
Ballooned over Bagan, Myanmar, at sunrise;
Hiked, climbed, scrambled and swam through Sarawak Chamber, the world's largest cave chamber by surface area and second largest cave chamber by volume, in Borneo;
Enjoyed sunrise without another soul in site in a self-dug natural hot pool at Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
Walked around then jumped off the top of Auckland Tower;
Climbed, crawled, squeezed, hiked and canyon walked through through part of Mammoth Cave, the world's largest cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park, USA;

I hope to keep adding to this list until I no longer can.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, England, Nepal, New Zealand, Scotland