Update September 2018: I'm traveling the world for the next year! Eventually moving to Melbourne, Australia, but making my way through the USA, Europe, some of the Middle East, Southeast Africa, parts of Asia, and Australia. Would love to meet up and learn about your city!

CURRENT MISSION

Gozar de la vida! 生活を楽しむ！ Aimer la vie! Godermi la vita! Að njóta lífsins! To enjoy life! And also to spread the couchsurfing spirit!

Born and raised in the United States midwest-- St. Louis, MO. With a BS and MA in Linguistics, looking to get into Data Science, NLP, and preventive diplomacy.

I love to go to new places and expose myself to new cultures and experiences. Meeting new people and making connections around the world is my life-long dream. Making music with other people, learning to cook food from other places, hiking, kayaking, swimming.

Worked a ton of different jobs, just to save up for traveling.

I do linguistics research, tutor, teach computer classes and build computers, knit, run, do yoga, sometimes I play video games or watch TV, but usually I'll take time to go to the local lake beach or walk outside, or find a friend to spend time with because being alone is boring.

I'm sort of a health nut. I love to eat healthy and exercise a lot. I drink once or twice a week (once for karaoke, always!) but do not smoke.

My dream is to someday travel around the world by boat and write a book about all the people I meet and things I see. Or I would love to be the owner of a hostel and café combo while moonlighting as a travel specialist!

PHILOSOPHY

Never judge, learn about other cultures and you will understand yourself better. By decreasing the separation between yourself and other types of living, you become a better person. I believe most people in the world are good, and traveling a lot has taught me to trust people easily :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on CouchSurfing to welcome other people into my home and to meet new people. I love to tell travel stories, meet people from different backgrounds than me, practice speaking other languages, and make the world a little more cohesive.
Spreading the CouchSurfing spirit is the goal!

Interests

Karaoke, Cooking (Indian food and Thai food especially).
Playing music with other people. Every year, I go to an international ukulele player gathering in the middle of Indiana, US.
I'm really interested in learning foreign languages and cultures. So far I have learned Japanese, Spanish, and some French, Norwegian, Latin, and a little Icelandic.
I'm interested in Linguistics, language and autism research, phonetics, hiking, camping, exercise, swimming, everything that has to do with enjoying life, outdoor or indoor, and time with other people.
COFFEE! Good beer, good books, some video games, landscapes. PIZZA. Square Enix games.

Can anyone really list all their interests here?

• books
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• indian food
• beer
• coffee
• exercise
• yoga
• running
• drinking
• boating
• video games
• tv
• traveling
• blogging
• knitting
• music
• karaoke
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• swimming
• teaching
• languages
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: John Steinbeck! East of Eden, Cannery Row, Travels with Charlie, the Pearl, John Green: Paper Towns, Will Grayson Will Grayson, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Plainsong, The Hunger Games Trilogy, Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials trilogy, Lord of the Rings

Music: Autoheart, the Hush Sound, Sigur Rós, La Quinta Estación, Juanes, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Regina Spektor, Linkin Park, Julia Nunes, Passenger, Donkeyboy, Lord Huron, anything Disney,

Movies/TV: Sense8, Inception, Disney movies, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Fresa y Chocolate, Como agua para chocolate, Amelie, Bent, Shelter, Física o Química, L'Auberge Espagnole, Prayers for Bobby, X-Men, Lego Movie, Star Wars, Archer, all sorts of stuff.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I write a travel blog about all the places I go. So far I've visited 32 countries and on the blog I have written 195,000 words.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook curry. Or any kind of American food. I also love to teach language, so if you're interested in learning something about English, Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, Icelandic, or Japanese, ask me questions! Language is collaborative by nature, and I love that.
Another goal through CouchSurfing for me is understanding other cultures and living how other people live. Have an open mind and you will always learn something.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I've been to lots of places around the world and met so many amazing people -- I can share stories from anywhere, or I also love to cook and bake (when I stayed in Germany I made like 3 chocolate cakes for my host). I also love to play music with people, or since I used to be a travel specialist I can tell you the cheapest and best way to get anywhere in the world!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Cambodia, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Czech Republic, Iceland, Spain, Ukraine, United States