CURRENT MISSION

Left my job in Dec 2016 to move to New Zealand for 2.5 months, then a month in the Philippines and China. The travels just kept coming and one year later I tallied up 14 countries and 7 U.S. states. I need to land in a better place than I was in before, and traveling and connecting a ton are helping me steer myself in a better direction. Newest thought: spend a few months in Australia going to massage school!

ABOUT ME

I'm a genuine person and it's always my aim to present my intentions accurately. The people I enjoy best do the same. I like to be clear in my communication and intentions since this seems to avoid the most harmful feelings, and the wiser and more organized I get, the more direct I become. I have few close friends, though I try actively to hit it off with lots of people.

I wasted the first years of my life being to scared and shy to explore and try new things. I'm still grounded in many ways, but also embrace trying new things often. New things I've tried in the past few years: harvesting grapes in Italy, yoga, belly dance, eating chicken brain and iguana, snowshoeing!

If we're going out to lunch I won't be staring at my phone the entire time. When someone leaves a dirty dish in the sink I wash it instead of bitching about it. When I'm very happy I may sing and dance with you in public, but you can't force me to act a certain way if I'm not feeling it. I'm continually trying to embrace change - don't fight it, more will always come! Letting go has become easier through the years, but there's always improvement to be made.

Languages: Some Chinese dialect at home but I understand and don't speak it. I studied Spanish for years and have lived in Mexico and Spain. I feel more comfortable with Italian these days - I lived in Parma for a year and a half. Never lived in a Francophone area but that's also in my future!

PHILOSOPHY

Simply said, seldom done: Think of what you want to do before you die, and set about trying to do it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted some surfers in SF and Boston and have been hosted in turn by wonderful people in Portland, Munich, Madrid, Montreal, Philadelphia and D.C.!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The best CS experiences are with surfers that are interested in hanging out, will break bread together and who I can show around the city. It's also good for me to practice my Spanish, French and Italian, so if you speak any of those then we can probably learn a lot from each other!

Interests

Things that I like: traveling (duh), GOOD food, ice cream, picnicking, beaching, hiking, exploring, museums and art galleries, making dinner with friends and learning to cook new things, reading, rock climbing, yoga and finding fun new ways to exercise (even if I don't do it often enough!) I am less interested in drinking nowadays but am open to it once in a while.

Things that I don't like: littering, dubbed movies, cigarettes indoors, cockroaches, shady people, showers that you have to squeegee after you use them, and I hate licking envelopes!!!

• animals
• arts
• singing
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• cocktails
• exercise
• yoga
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• snowshoeing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Sadly I read less novels than I used to. Here are some old favorites: Jane Eyre, Portrait of Dorian Grey, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Cloud Atlas, The Beach, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Fahrenheit 451, all Murakami and John Steinbeck books, and more!

Music: Quite eclectic. Lots of 60s and 70s, some electronica, bluegrass, Johnny Cash, some hip-hop and rap, guilty pleasure pop, rock... I can enjoy basically any genre minus smooth jazz and poppy, twangy country (except when ridiculously twangy). I sing harmony in a country band and still know little about country music!

Movies: I love movies but don't often watch them.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Not just one thing stands out in my mind, but I've seen many amazing things. I've mounted the Great Wall as well as Meso-American pyramids, I've taken a spectacular elephant ride in Thailand, jumped off of a bridge (with a rope!), love swimming naked, eaten animals that you can't sell for food in the US, have picked lemons on the hillside groves of the Amalfi coast. I've ridden on the back on a garbage truck in Mexico with a caguama in hand at 3 in the morning. But you can see something amazing almost any time if you're in the right mindset.

Teach, Learn, Share

The conscientious hedonist. You are the most important person on the planet for yourself. Put your personal happiness above all else in life, being respectful of others' right to happiness.

What I Can Share with Hosts

As a personal rule, when someone else invites me to their home I do dishes and light cleaning without being asked and without wanting for it to be a big deal. I'm just neat.

The reason that I like to use CS is because I'm able to see the way that people in a certain place live. Fancy hotels are almost the same anywhere you go. CS-style travel is about having an exchange rather than just taking from the place that you visit and not giving anything back. I'll talk to you all night (if I'm not catching the early flight), cook you one of my favorite dishes, ask you about your favorite spots in the city, sing with you, and be your couch entertainment for as long as I stay with you (because that's why I've hosted too!)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Mexico, Spain, United States

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