CURRENT MISSION

To plan and survive an American road trip.

ABOUT ME

Most of my travel experience comes from my time as a student (Netherlands, Taiwan) and a kind-of teacher (France).

These days I work and live in downtown Toronto at a startup where we make a mobile app. Now most of my travels have been to visit the friends I've met while traveling and living abroad. Travel begets more travel!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've surfed and attended CS events all over Europe, had my first hosting experience in France, and I finally have my own "couch" here in Toronto!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So I really, truly stumbled into this Couchsurfing thing. I was on exchange in Utrecht, a city in the middle of the Netherlands. It was a sunny afternoon which, when you live in the Netherlands, means you HAVE to leave the house. I was walking around Utrecht looking for something to do when two people offered me a free hug. I accepted and I asked what they were doing. They asked if I wanted to join and next thing I knew, I had a sign and was walking around the city with them giving away "gratis omhelzing" for the next few hours. Turns out I had stumbled onto a Couchsurfing meeting. I followed this bunch to someone's house for dinner and a night of board games. After meeting them and hearing about their Couchsurfing experiences, I had to try it for myself.

Since then I've Couchsurfed in Brussels, Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Budapest, Strasbourg, Basel, and Lyon.

My first hosting experience was in Strasbourg. Now that I finally have my own place, I hope to do it again!

Interests

Live music, chess, biking, hiking, practicing languages, food

• dining
• walking
• board games
• chess
• traveling
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• teaching
• history
• languages
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm going to go on the record and say I'm more of a TV person. If you want to have a passionate discussion about Game of Thrones, GIRLS, Mad Men, and all the usual HBO/AMC suspects, you're in for a treat.

I'm bad at describing what kind of music I like despite having worked in a record store, so I'll list some: The Smiths, Kings of Convenience, The Knife, Beach House, Robyn, Bjork, Death from Above 1979, Royksopp, and pretty much anything 90s.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once hitchhiked down a mountain in Taiwan with a woman and her grandmother. My friend and I had dinner with them and the evening ended in a retirement home with the grandma showing us turn-of-the-century photos. Being in a retirement home in another country with someone you just met sharing their family history with you was a pretty amazing feeling.

Teach, Learn, Share

One of the primary reasons I got involved with CS was for language exchange. If you're interested in practicing French, Mandarin, Cantonese, or English, with me, I can definitely help (with some more than others.)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Netherlands, Taiwan