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Hi Couch Surfers! I'm Susan. :)

And that's my husband, Eddie. We're both in our early 30s and live in the beautiful Washington DC area. We both love travel, meeting new people and learning about new cultures, languages, and exploring. I am originally from Vermont, USA but have spent 3 years living and working near Tokyo, Japan. Eddie is originally from Russia and Ukraine and has lived in Washington DC for a long time.

We have recently returned from nearly a year traveling the world, including Latin America, USA (including Alaska), Canada, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and Japan. It was an incredible adventure and we met so many amazing people around the world. Now that we are settling back into life at home, we are excited to start hosting surfers again, learning from their experiences as well as sharing ours.

Besides our recent year of travel, Eddie and I have done a number of road trips across the US as well as trips to Kenya, Tanzania, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, etc. Before we met, I also traveled in France, Denmark, Japan, and Taiwan. Eddie has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, Israel, Turkey, Peru, Costa Rica, Germany, and taught English in Taiwan for a month. He volunteered in Somalia during graduate school. He's also spent time in Palau (Pacific islands near Micronesia) and volunteered in the Philippines after Typhoon Hayian. So if you're up for trading travel stories on any of those places, let us know!

We can't wait to meet you and to hear your stories! :)

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

My husband first tried couchsurfing a few years ago and had a great experience. We wanted to return the favor by offering our hospitality (and couch) to other travelers. Since then, we've met some amazing people, both as hosts and guests. Both of us believe that by sharing these experiences, couchsurfing helps to bring people together.

Interessen

We both love to hike and incidentally, that's how we met back in 2010. We also enjoy camping, mountain biking, and just about anything outdoors. We also love to travel and explore new cities, mountains, cuisines, and adventures.

Family and friends are extremely important to both of us. We enjoy dinners and parties with friends and spending quality (and quantity) time with our families nearby and across the country.

We also love board games and other social games. Whether it's chess, Go, Mastermind, Taboo or something else, we're game! My husband is actually a competitive expert-level chess player and enjoys playing and teaching the game.

We're also both passionate about environmental conservation and enjoy working and volunteering in this field. I currently volunteer at the zoo and until recently I worked at the aquarium in Baltimore, so if you're interested in seeing some of those animals, I can definitely give you recommendations!

• fish
• reptiles
• cooking
• instructor
• partying
• board games
• chess
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• rock climbing
• languages
• volunteering
• road trips
• mountains

Musik, Filme und Bücher

We both enjoy great movies and TV shows. Some of our favorites right now are House of Cards, Veep and The Americans - all set in our city! Some all-time favorites are Breaking Bed and Dexter.

I usually prefer fantasy and sci-fi novels with well-developed characters and beautiful language. My husband, on the other hand, prefers non-fiction on social policy, politics and development as well adventure classics.

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

That's a tough one, but, summitting Mt. Kilimanjoro was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences for both us. The altitude and the freezing temperatures made it extremely difficult and we were not sure if we would be able to make it all the way to the top. Somehow, through perseverance and encouragement, we made it to the top to see the sunrise eclipsing the glaciers.

Our trip to Alaska and Denali National Park was also unforgettable and we remember seeing Mt. McKinley (Denali) one day as the clouds rolled out. We've talked about climbing Mt. Everest (to the base camp) and will try to do so over the next few years.

Lehren, lernen, teilen

We love to learn from others as well as to share our experiences. We love to meet other travelers and as well as locals and to hear their stories.

Was ich mit Gastgebern teilen kann

One of the reasons we decided to join couchsurfing is to share some of the skills and experiences that we have. We are more than happy to help practice English, Japanese, Russian, as well as cook and clean. Or help with yard work.

If you need any help with Excel or finance, my husband is more than willing to assist (he has even taught classes in some of these skills before). He's also more than happy to play and/or teach chess and used to be a professional chess instructor.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Viet Nam

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Japan, Kenya, Russian Federation, Somalia, Ukraine, United States