CURRENT MISSION

Be happy! And move abroad within the next two years :) - UPDATE 2017- Moving to Luxembourg with my husband, cat and dog!!

ABOUT ME

I am a person who loves to travel and loves to experience new cultures and learn languages, and I can't wait to get back out and see more of the world. I am married to someone who shares my desire to travel, and I am excited for whatever is next!

PHILOSOPHY

I say that life is a joke, so just laugh. As hard as things can get and as shitty as you can feel, there is always someone experiencing something worse. So just have fun and do what you want, because you only get one chance! Besides, only you can prevent yourself from having a good time. I of course need to remind myself of this sometimes...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have surfed in the past and done coffee/explore meetups!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Spent some time on a couch in Paris, France! It was a mostly good experience- I lived with a group of artists and actually slept in a bed in a small art studio which I had all to myself- well, aside from certain mornings when an Italian man let himself in to paint. I normally didn't even hear him though and continued to sleep, which actually led him to wake me up one time to ensure I wasn't dead :D The artists had an entire building to themselves, and they were very nice and even allowed me to use their computer on multiple occasions. However, on my very last day they woke me up at 4am to accuse me of stealing 5,000 euro that was left on the computer desk. I had to wake up a few hours later to catch the first metro, and I was barely coherent, undergoing an intense questioning session. They were considering calling the cops, which would make me miss my plane,(and from earlier conversations, they were both aware I was practically broke and couldn't afford to buy a new plane ticket) so I was also freaking out a little. Fortunately, after multiple pleas to just look through my luggage themselves (which they refused, saying they had no right), or even let me just throw everything on the floor and they can see (just PLEASE don't call the cops and make me miss my flight!!), or to check my bank accounts, they decided I seemed like a very honest person and let me go back to sleep (although of course I couldn't; I was too terrified they would come in again, having changed their minds)- when I got up a few hours later I ran out of there without so much as a word. Having retyped that now, I remember it was actually terrifying...not just kind of bad. Although I feel like this isn't something which normally happens to people, and they had hundreds of positive comments on their page from people who loved living with them. I just always seem to cause strange situations to happen around me, whether good or bad (but always funny/ridiculous later!). And I mean, if your money goes missing, of course it makes sense to question the broke girl who is bumming on your couch!! So I understood and wasn't offended, but it did scare the shit out of me. It was, however, quite funny to retell this story to my mom when I finally got back; she was already worried sick that she had to send me some money since I ran out in France, and then even later because I was trapped in Heathrow for 2 days because of blizzards. Yup, everything makes for a good story later! :D

I have also had a few other experiences while in Beijing where I met up with several people- I joined a Great Wall hike, met up with locals for a Couch Surfers meeting/dinner, met up with a local to go shopping for souvenirs, and met up with someone traveling for business. If you are apprehensive about staying over someone's house, at LEAST utilize Couch Surfers to meet up with people and experience the area you are visiting ! Every time I've done it it has been an enlightening and interesting time, and the easiest way to make new friends with similar interests as you!

Interests

learning/practicing/talking about languages, experiencing new cultures, traveling pretty much anywhere and living in extraordinarily cheap ways while doing it, hanging out with my dog and cat (and husband of course!), sitting in cafes for absurd amounts of time chatting and sipping tea or coffee, sitting in cafes for an absurd amount of time by myself sipping tea and planning lessons or just enjoying solitude, getting some exercising in, strolling around new cities aimlessly for hours on end, dancing in restaurants, lounging in bars, having a good time, making new friends, listening to people's stories

• cats
• arts
• dancing
• coffee
• walking
• shopping
• traveling
• painting
• hiking
• business
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

James Bond, Indiana Jones, The Bourne Identity, Bridget Jone's Diary, Star Wars, Ace Ventura, Rush Hour, The Recruit, Dawn of the Dead, Argo and many more.

Pepper, 311, Cake, Authority Zero, Boston, Led Zeppelin, Lady Gaga, SIA, Rihanna and Bey. And of course music to dance to if the mood is right. :D

The Master and Margarita, A Song of Ice and Fire, Crime and Punishment, Emma, The Dawn of Man, The Trumpet of the Swan, Harry P, various fictitious/slightly trashy books about the lives of women and their traveling adventures.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think it's pretty amazing that I've gotten to travel at all! I've met so many people who wish they had an opportunity to do something like visit Japan, or travel around Europe, or live in Russia or move to Kazakhstan, but they just don't. I am grateful I've had such opportunities so far. I'm still young, and I have already been to so many places. Fortunately, I still have plenty of time left to see many many more!!

Teach, Learn, Share

While in Russia, I've learned that while people always seem stand-offish and in their own little world here while walking around in public, there is always someone who can and will help you. It is really cool that anywhere in the world, even with language barriers, people always can understand when someone needs help.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My previous experiences and stories, as well as what great things we are hoping are still to come!

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Russian Federation, United States