ABOUT ME

I grew up mostly in Minnesota, but spent my summers in Montana with some occasional time in New Mexico. I love taking long roadtrips -sometimes alone, sometimes with family or friends. I went years without a car and loved all the people you meet using mass transit. Now I tend to opt for driving myself for the freedom of getting there at my own pace - pulling over if I see something interesting and changing my plans to stay for the night when the waitress at the local cafe says there's a town celebration that I can't afford to miss.

PHILOSOPHY

Ellen Goodman said, "Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it."

If that's the case, I say, "Refuse to be normal!"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

A friend of mine and I used this site when we went on a 10 day roadtrip and loved meeting people along the way. Now that I've got a place with extra space, I'm excited to introduce others to my city. Minneapolis is rated the top bicycle-friendly city in the country and we have the most theater seats per capita too!
My husband and I especially love to point people to our favorite long form improv theater just a couple miles from our house - HUGE theater (which is actually quite small) and will help you find the best ice cream around too!

Our calendars tend to fill up fast, so we are rarely able to join you around the city. However, we're happy to give you some pointers and send you on your way. So if you're just looking for some tips on the city and a place to crash at the end of the day, we've got that. If you're wanting to meet someone who's likely to be able to show you around in person, you may want to keep looking. We've got a pretty big CS community here and I'm sure there are plenty of folks in the latter category too.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

When living in Missoula, MT, I had an individual who lost their home come stay with me for a couple of weeks while apt. hunting, and I joined a group of squatters in Amsterdam for a night back in 2005, but I had no idea there was such an extensive network of couchsurfers out there until more recently!

I've stayed with people in MO and NM and now that I have a house am excited to host! I'm not comfortable with folks staying at the house when we're both gone, but if we're here, we've got extra space to share.

Interests

I love photography, pottery, acoustic coffee shop concerts, picnics and BBQs, horseback riding...

I love meeting people who hold passion for something and seeing their faces light up as they talk about it.

• photography
• concerts
• coffee
• shopping
• socializing
• pottery
• equestrian

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Nobody wants to get arrested in a foreign country, but if it happens, I hope your experience is as good as mine when I was arrested in Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands. The police were excessive - beating back the group with batons, smashing a peaceful girl's drum, and sending a horse kicking through the crowd, but the other folks I was arrested with were beautiful people. They were protesting the government's decision to allow a group of Neo Nazis to march. I was there studying ethical tolerance, and had some really great conversations with them over the gray areas of life.
And a celled off bus doesn't make you feel isolated for long when everyone breaks out in song together singing, "Always look on the bright side of life!!"

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States