I love to travel and experience new (and revisit familiar) places. I don't discriminate between big cities and small towns; I like to dive into them both. One of my favorite parts of travel is poring over maps. I also am always tempted to lend an orienting hand to tourists I see staring at maps in my hometowns.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing brings travelers together to experience places through the eyes of locals, not just as a tourist. I like to get both perspectives when traveling, so sometimes I surf (or do Warm Showers when bike touring). I've surfed in a bunch of places in the U.S., the Netherlands and Belgium all with fantastic hosts. I also WWOOFed a number of years ago which isn't exactly CouchSurfing, but it's a great way to travel, especially if you love rural places and are interested in organic agriculture.

Interests

Cooking and baking for friends (though mostly do it for my husband and myself), fostering healthy, vibrant communities, bicycling for transportation and travel, trail running.

• environment
• cooking
• baking
• running
• traveling
• agriculture
• cartography
• parks
• bicycling

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Cake, Ben Folds (Five), Josh Ritter, Punch Brothers (and other Chris Thile jams), The Decemberists. Many other people and pieces too numerous to count. I love music.

Books: Recently, books by Mona Awad and Haruki Murakami.

Not music, movies or books, but I love stumbling across public art in cities and/or green spaces, and that kind of unexpected magic is something that I love in movies, too.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hiked up Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka to see the sunrise among many pilgrims (and other visitors).

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm happy to lend a hand to people learning to cook or those scared to take the first steps in doing so. Ditto on baking, bicycling in a city environment, and running. And I'd love to help hosts practice their English if that's desired, though really, many of my international hosts' English has been impeccable!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Homemade baked goods! If surfing in the U.S., expect me to arrive with some type of tasty baked good.

If internationally, that'd be a bit tough. But I'll bring my open ears for your stories and suggestions about your city, and a good set of dishwashing hands and attention to detail when keeping your place tidy. Oh, and lots of pets for your cat if you have one!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

• 

•