Hello! I am Sonya.

In 2015 my partner Taylor and I travelled for eight months on an overland journey from Singapore to London - across South East Asia, China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. It was an incredible trip and we experienced great hospitality from many couchsurfers. Taylor's couchsurfing profile is https://www.couchsurfing.org/people/tayander

Now we are back in New Zealand, I am teaching English at a multicultural high school in Auckland, New Zealand, and enjoying life.

I am friendly and outgoing, and really love trying new food! I love couch surfing because I believe travelling is not just about sightseeing but understanding people. I believe everybody has an important and interesting story to tell.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love hosting couchsurfers and showing them my city. I look forward to travelling to visit people I have met through CS.

Interests

I am interested in understanding the world, about history, politics, religion, culture and learning people's individual stories. I love traveling, writing poetry, watching documentaries, drinking tea, swimming and reading.

• culture
• writing
• poetry
• documentaries
• dining
• drinking
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• surfing
• swimming
• history
• religion
• sightseeing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: The National, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Brooke Fraser, Bon Iver, Angus and Julia Stone, Ben Howard, First Aid Kit, Fleetwood Mac, The Cranberries, Johnny Cash

Books: Into the Wild, anything by Bryce Courtenay, travel writing, Under the Osakan Sun, biographies

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent a month on the 'Ship for World Youth' traveling around Japan with 200 young people from ten different countries - United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Turkey and Japan. It was the most incredible experience and really opened my eyes to how interesting and diverse the world is.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Australia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand