Hi y'all! My name is Shannon, and I am a full-time student at the University of Texas at Austin. While I have spent most of my life growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, I have also lived a bunch of other places since my dad served in the United States Air Force for 30 years. I have lived in Texas, Colorado, Ohio, Washington, DC, and now call the Bay Area home. I love the easy-going, progressive, and artsy vibes of San Francisco and Austin, and I have a special place in my heart for long road trips, overpriced coffee shops, and viewpoints overlooking big cities. I have made it my life-long goal to visit as many places as I can and to talk to as many people as possible. I am an enthusiastic, outgoing, and fun-loving individual who is always down for an adventure.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I will be traveling to India (with a short trip to Japan) for 3.5 weeks this summer, and I am excited to see everything that this beautiful country has to offer. I am determined to travel to all 7 continents and all 50 states before I graduate from college, and I look for every opportunity to go on a quick trip (especially when it is affordable) to experience something new. I also love hosting people in my apartment, and I am excited about becoming a part of the Couchsurfing community.

Interests

This past semester I became a barista at Starbucks, and now I am crazy passionate about visiting coffee shops and trying some of the best coffee around.

If it qualifies as social media, then I probably have an account on it, and I probably spend way too much time editing my pictures that go on it. But, I also have some pretty quality photos on my Instagram. Just saying.

From waking up at 3 AM to make it to the top of a huge mountain before sunrise to standing in line for 5 hours for some of the best BBQ in the world, I am all about the experience and the adventure. I am here to see and do it all.

I love good food. I love cooking, baking, and eating out (A LOT). Food is meant to be experienced, and, if I could only have one channel, it would be Food Network.

I have read Yes Please!, Bossypants, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, and I have a healthy (or maybe unhealthy) obsession with Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Mindy Project. If Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, or Amy Poehler touched it, chances are I have read/watched/obsessed over it.

I have a lot of other interests, too. If you would like the PDF of the 80 page document detailing my interests, I can send it to you.

• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• bbq
• baking
• traveling
• eating out
• skydiving
• communications
• road trips
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

If it has been on the radio more than once and is/was on the iTunes Top 100 list, I am probably about it. My music taste can be described as "Top 40" or as I like to call it "if I can sing along with it at the top of my lungs, it's probably a song that I like". I have seen One Direction in concert (that probably tells you too much about me) and am currently contemplating paying a pretty penny to see Taylor Swift in October.

Movies are my happy place. Comedies and romantic comedies are my favorite, but I am all about the action and dramas as well. I have seen too many movies for my own good. "When Harry Met Sally" is my favorite movie, but I can also recite the lines of almost any blockbuster hit since 2000.

I am not going to lie. My favorite book is "Gone With the Wind". What can I say? I am a sucker for a romantic classic. I grew up reading more than my fair share of books though and nowadays enjoy a good autobiography or literary classic.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have done a good amount of adventuring, but going skydiving this past October was definitely the most out-of-this-world experience that I have had. I can't believe I actually did that...

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States