CURRENT MISSION

Simply to make connections with people across the globe! And to show off our lovely city to anyone who's interested in learning more about it.

ABOUT ME

Sonia, 26, is a student intern at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She is studying to be a healer and herbalist in the Chinese tradition. She enjoys being outdoors, crocheting, cooking, biking, gardening, music, bonfires, a good glass of wine, locally-grown food and supporting sustainable agriculture. Travis, 30, works at Dero Bike Rack Co., where he designs and sells custom bike racks to businesses and community planners. It's a pretty great company. He plays bass guitar in two bands around town and really enjoys music, drawing, biking, camping, travel, and collecting various random tidbits of information. The two of them have been together for 5 years and have shared their time and space with many interesting individuals from the US and Canada. They love meeting new people and learning new things.

PHILOSOPHY

Eat, drink, and be merry! But avoid doing harm to others and the planet we live on. We are vegetarian, liberal pacifists but don't really consider ourselves hippies (we're not into jam bands. :o] ). We are spiritual but not religious, tolerant of all religions as long as no one's trying to force their beliefs onto us. We believe the best way to break down cultural barriers is talking with other individuals face-to-face. Hence our interest in this site!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are both new to CS but would like to extend ourselves and our space to travelers interesting in visiting Minneapolis. Eventually, we'd like to go surf ourselves, but during the next few years, school obligations must come first.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We have played host to touring bands coming through our city and have had excellent experiences.

Interests

Local music, community, unusual roadside attractions, food and wine, the outdoors, playing mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo, etc, vegetarian cooking, music festivals, alternative medicine, bikes, gardening, visiting new cities, unique and handmade anything, art, films, books... you name it. We love to cook, so if you don't mind veggies it's likely we can offer you a tasty, home-made meal!

• arts
• books
• folklore
• music festivals
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• vegetarian
• drinking
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• camping
• agriculture
• medicine
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: local stuff and big star, neutral milk hotel, tom waits, neil young, midlake, bruce springsteen, great speckled bird, joanna newsom, califone, wolf parade, yeasayer, the acorn, the staple singers, le loup, calexico, gaslight anthem, shearwater, rural alberta advantage, fleet foxes, tom petty. white rabbits. MOVIES: city of lost children, nightmare before christmas, undertow, amelie, all the real girls, edward scissorhands, mirrormask, 28 days later, royal tennenbaums, crybaby, pan's labyrinth, the visitor. BOOKS: Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaimain, Lewis Carrol, C. S. Lewis, "The Web that Has No Weaver," Thich Nhat Hanh, "Siddhartha," "Alice in Wonderland," "The Raw Shark Texts," graphic novels, nonfiction, other stuff.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travis - Playing CBGB's in New York on Halloween while on tour with his band several years ago. Sonia - For me, it's all about the amazing people I've met, and witnessing the little every-day miracles... every day I try to see and do things that amaze me (on a rather small scale, of course)!

Teach, Learn, Share

We like to think we know a lot about certain things and little bit about everything! We can teach you how to make a great vegetarian stir-fry, or which herbs treat a hang-over. We can introduce you to all kinds of music we're into and show you great websites to learn more. We can tell you about our town, our state, and what places you absolutely need to visit.

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