I have had friends who had wonderful experiences with CouchSurfing. So, I figured I'd give it a try!

This summer I will be traveling with my almost 16-year old kiddo. We currently live in Portland, Oregon where I have played local tour guide to a number of family and friends over the years. I have also been fortunate enough to share my knowledge of the city with countless others who I've encountered through my various community activities.

Currently I volunteer with the Columbia Slough Watershed Council on their paddle team. This is my second year doing it. I love being able to share a little-known, local natural resource like the Columbia Slough with members of the public and local school kids. The Columbia Slough is a waterway tucked away in North Portland, hidden among a mix of industrial areas, residential neighborhoods, and a golf course. It's also close enough to the airport that I've seem small planes fly overhead on their way in for a landing just a few yards up, probably less than a minute before they touch ground. The slough begins at Kelly Point, where the Willamette and Columbia Rivers meet. It then meanders through Smith & Bybee wetlands and continues on toward Gresham. It's an interesting place, full of much wildlife despite its urban location. I've been fortunate enough to see blue herons up close nearly every time that I've been on the slough thusfar. It always amazes me to see these graceful and beautiful creatures in real life.

I have also been volunteering with another local non-profit, GPSEN - the Greater Portland Sustainability Education network, for three years. I work with their Communications & Outreach committee, working closely with the director to compile and edit our regional newsletter of educational and community events, classes, workshops, job openings, educational resources, and more. It's been an amazing opportunity to work with some of the prominent sustainability education folks here in Portland. Working on the newsletter from home, it's easy to forget just how important this labor of love really is until I go out into the community and meet people who tell me just how much they love the newsletter, how well they think it's put together, and how much time they set aside to pour through it and read about all of the cool stuff happening across the Portland metro region.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm hoping that Couchsurfing will allow me to meet some friendly, interesting folks in my travels who can give me a local's perspective.

Interests

• arts
• dining
• yoga
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• sustainability
• permaculture
• paddling
• outdoor education
• learning about nature

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent three years volunteering with the core organizing team for the Village Building Convergence in Portland, Oregon. I took on many roles during that time. First as an intern who ended up leading a placemaking project in my very own neighborhood, repainting the iconic Sunnyside Piazza (sunflower street mural at SE 33rd & Yamhill, one block south of Belmont). I lead the project for two years and in my second year worked on improving neighborhood relations and neighbor involvement, which had fallen to the wayside over the years as early organizers and founders of the project moved away or moved on to other things. Through a series of community meetings we were able to reinvigorate the grassroots, collaborative nature of this project and heal some old rifts within the neighborhood. After some healing dialogue we discovered that what first appeared to be simply a grumpy neighbor who didn't like the project, was in fact one of the original artists who had designed a mosaic mural on a retaining wall on one of the corners. Unfortunately the mural fell into disrepair over the years and was eventually taken down and stored in the basement of a neighbor's home. After listening to her concerns we were able to work with her to get the mural reinstalled and even got her to support the project through a small cash donation to help us buy the paint needed for the street painting. During my third year I mentored a new coordinator, someone who lived in one of the corner houses. The new group had more collective energy than I ever had alone as the sole lead on the project. Together they were able to do more fundraising through an annual pizza party at a local food establishment and turn it into a whole block party with various kinds of entertainment... local live musicians, balloon animals, a table with kids activities, a children's lemonade sale, repainting and repairing the corner's decaying planter barrels, repairing a cob retaining wall, building a new bench in the public access space, and so much more. I was so proud to be able to lead the way to such amazing community relationships, rather than see our beloved neighborhood icon disappear due to a simple void in leadership.

During my time at the City Repair Project (cityrepair.org), the mother organization, and the Village Building Convergence (villagebuildingconvergence.com), one of their main projects, I was able to take on a variety of other leadership roles. We met weekly from the fall (usually sometime around October) til the event launch around Memorial Day. I also helped coordinate a variety of fun spaces within the central venue, where we had evening programing every night with a community dinner, inspiring speakers, music, and more. During my 2nd year at VBC I coordinated the children's playspace and turned a dim and dingy church bell tower into a magical wonderland for children to enjoy while their parents enjoyed the speakers or got some healing work done in our community healing space. During year three I helped to coordinate build-out and with management tasks for our healing space, in the church chapel, and co-coordinated the management of the Nest, which is this magical tower space built of all-natural materials (mostly large branches, woven, and bolted together). On the ground-floor we sold a variety of baked goods donated to us by individuals and businesses within the community, to help raise funds for our community event. On the upper level(s) were cozy spaces to cuddle, rest, or listen to the night's speakers and music from a perch above it all. Every year, every day, and every evening was filled with delightful community-building, natural building, permaculture projects, sustainability education, and deepening of our relationships with one another and the communities that we inhabit. If you're ever in Portland in early June, I highly recommend checking out the event or simply visiting some of our many placemaking sites throughout the city any time of year! <3

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States