Hi! I'm Tracey. I'm currently exploring some of my own country (finally!) with my partner Mac. We met in University and have been together since 2011. We spent 2015 travelling through Central and South America, then we lived in New Zealand for 2016 before returning back home for ~ 1.5 years. We left again in May 2018 for a year to travel through Europe and will returned back to Canada in summer 2019. We're spending the summer in our home province of Ontario with a road trip out east to the maritime provinces. Eventually we'd love to relocate to the west coast (MOUNTAINS!!!).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Mac and I slept in a LOT of hostels on our 2015 trip and while they worked for what we needed, we missed being able to connect with people. We both love the concept of CouchSurfing and are excited to continue sustaining and strengthening this community.

Interests

I love to cook (and eat!) - I've been vegan since 2012 and Mac has been vegetarian since 2017. I'm more than happy to help prepare a meal to share! :) I'm also an avid photographer (some of my favourite pictures can be found on my blog - atasteoftrace.com). Mac is a HUGE basketball lover (Go Raptors!!). We both love the outdoors and enjoy hiking and dabbling in rock climbing. Rugby is another fave sport and we soaked in the All Blacks' World Cup win for 2015. Some of our favourite outdoor jaunts in NZ were the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and the Queen Charlotte Sound. Not to be forgotten: Parque Nacionale Huerquehue near Pucon, Chile. As for favourite European hikes (without getting too lengthy...): Konigstein, Germany; Karlstejn Castle, Czechia; Lake District, England; Beas de Granada, Spain; Guajara, Tenerife, Canary Islands; Mt Toubkal, Morocco; Dovje, Slovenia; and so many more!

• dancing
• education
• cooking
• vegetarian
• vegan
• running
• gardening
• traveling
• blogging
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• sports
• basketball
• rock climbing
• rugby
• world cup
• teaching
• vegan cooking
• zero waste

Music, Movies, and Books

I particularly love a few local bands from Ontario (Arkells and Walk Off The Earth) but will listen to anything Indie too. I've recently gotten into The National and The War on Drugs. Mac is really into Indie music, rap, and hip hop.

Love some BTO and their hit 'TCB', they're Canada's answer to EOP.

Mac executed an artist A-Z RE-play of his entire 32GB iPod since January.
Updates:
-September 2015: We are only on letter 'N'. Jeez, The National is so good. Nas too. Shouts to the kiwis with The Naked and Famous as well.
-November 2015: N's, O's, P's, and Q's complete except for a few (looking at You, OutKast...). Even jumping ahead to Radiohead with QotSA mixed in.
-January 2016: Z's complete! Gotta love some classic ZZ Top.

Read "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" recently. Pretty darn (damn? can I swear on CS?...) good. Pending total lifestyle changes.

Other classics we like: To Kill a Mockingbird, Great Gatsby, Lolita, 1984.
(Yes, we now shamefully enjoy the high-school reading curriculum.)

Non-classics: Harry Potter (always), The Martian, A Man Called Ove.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Hitchhiked over 7500km in Europe and Morocco (and met so many cool and interesting people)
- Discovered a passion for hiking and started incorporating it into our travels whenever possible
- Hiked the classic 4 day/3 night Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with Mac and my best friend from uni

Teach, Learn, Share

We have basic 3D modelling skills. [*crickets*] No, seriously! That was our "job" life. We can also share our recent Spanish language education. Manual motorcycle operation. Maybe Rosehip bush gardening? Mac once learned some Capoeira (Brasilian dance-combat). He worked as a bartender so is growing his cocktail making skillz. Don't forget Tracey's cooking. Most recently in 2017, Mac worked in outdoor gear retail, so it was literally his job to teach and share advice on hiking, backpacking and camping.

What I Can Share with Hosts

As mentioned above, I love to cook (and Mac agrees that I'm fairly good at it!) and would be happy to make a meal for a host. Mac is well versed in all things sports and music and can talk about them all night if prompted. We travelled for 9 months through Central and South America and would love the opportunity to share stories and practice our Spanish.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, New Zealand