Hi I'm Tram! I recently (or at least it seemed recently to me, time passes so fast nowadays) from a small liberal arts college in California called Claremont McKenna College with an interdisciplinary major in Biology and Economics. My gateway drug to travel was my study abroad experience in Copenhagen, Denmark where I stayed with a host family. I traveled across Europe afterwards, both with friends and on my own. And I enjoyed it a lot. I also took a trip to Asia (Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam) after graduating, specifically to visit my extended in Vietnam that I haven't seen since I immigrated to the US as a kid!

I love sharing meaningful connections with people. Whether it is for a life-time or for a duration of a coffee break. The quality of conversations is more important to me than the quantity. I also love meeting new people and exploring new places. Travelling on public transit and documenting it is one of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling, in addition to food and people.

After traveling for it a bit, I always like to reflect on it and a recurring theme of what made my travels worthwhile and meaningful always intersected with the people I had the pleasure to know and crossed paths with.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

connecting and stories: I'm a firm believer in the power of people and their stories. I want to meet more people around the world and hear about their specific experiences and how those have shaped them to be the person that they are today.

experience what locals do and where they would go

Interests

• cooking
• wine
• beer
• reading
• podcasts
• tennis
• biology
• economics
• travel
• food
• nature
• friends
• storytelling
• cities
• exploring
• urban planning
• korean drama
• boba

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:

-To Kill a Mockingbird: who knew assigned middle school reading would be life-altering (besides the fact that required readings often are picked from the classics). I might have cried multiple times every time I read the court scene with Atticus Finch.

- Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi: this book came to me at a time when I didn't know I needed it. I borrowed it from my friend during our travels back to Vietnam to visit my family for the first time in 15 years. I read most of it during the long bus ride to reunite with my grandmother in the Vietnamese countryside from the bustling city. One of the recurring themes in the book that resonated with me was the transcendence of familial bonds, even across time and place. I immigrated to the US from Vietnam at the age of seven. Being away from my extended family and not being in contact with them for 15 years meant I had forgotten a majority of them. However, as soon as I met them, they welcomed me with open arms and I felt like I had never left. We re-bonded over food and stories and of course, more food.

Music:
Spotify takes up most of phone batter and storage. In 2017, I spent a third of my time awake listening to music. I have this thing where I make playlist based on the season/month and I repeatedly listen to the songs on them. When I re-listen months later, I get a sliver of the experiences I was going through at the time, and I love that aspect of music. I also enjoy going to live concerts in intimate venues. I listen to a lot of indie pop, pop, singer-songwriter, rap, Rb&b

some artists I have a soft spot for include: Adele, Hozier, Bruno Major, Billie Eilish, The Head and the Heart, The Lumineers, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, BROCKHAMPTON, Oh Wonder, Maggie Rogers, LEON

Movies:
movies that you didn't get the first time around, so you have to wait until you grow up more to understand them or bad romcoms or superhero movies
Inception
Ex Machina
The Dark Knight Rises
How to Train Your Dragon
A Man and a Woman

What I Can Share with Hosts

hopefully we can bond over our stories and shared experiences. I would like to think that I'm above average at listening and asking meaningful follow-up questions!

cooking: growing up with my mom, whom is an excellent cook, I was able to pick up some classic Vietnamese recipes from her. I love cooking Japanese and exploring other cuisines

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, United States, Viet Nam