CURRENT MISSION

To discover London through vegetarian food!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfers:

1) Jason Greenland - Jason was only here for a night so we didn't spend a whole lot of time together but we did grab some food at the Naam. mmm
2) Aldo - Came up for a few nights to check out UBC for his PhD. Super nice guy and an excellent (and authentic) Italian cook!
3) Helena Beringer - Helena was a great guest, truly representing Germany well by constantly buying shots of jagger at the bar. We partied hard, and even threw in some serious stuff like the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
4) Emily Wyman - The most last minute host ever, got a call from my friend saying she was here that day, but it just worked well. We ended up going to a really awesome concert together at the Railway Club downtown.
5) Mat Marr and Jonny - Mat and Johnny were great guests! They stayed for a few nights while they were up for a tournament, and although I didn't get to spend enough time with them we had a great time
6) Sebastiaan Muller - Great Dutch guy! Stayed for three nights in the summer and got to take advantage of the beach and bbq season
7) Nico Dubois - Nico was supposed to be in Van for a couple of nights but stayed for 5 cause it was so great. We fully inducted him into Canadian culture - roadhockey, bbqs, a house party at ours, and tons of good conversations.
8) Louis and Benjamin - two French guys who came to Vancouver and spent a couple of nights, taking advantage of the beautiful weather for some backyard barbeques
9) Simone - stayed over for just a night but we went to the beach for a lazy afternoon and spent the night at one of my favourite bars downtown with some other CSers having good drinks and great conversation
10) Jess Mortell - Jess came and surfed with me in Salt Spring Island and we had a wicked good time together hiking up Mount Erskine, checking out the views from Maxwell and just generally taking it easy on the ocean!
11) Weronika - My first Polish surfer who was gonna stay for 3 nights but ended up spending 5...i got her addicted to Indian food, we bonded over drinks and veggie meals around town and ended up sleeping most of the days after our shenanigans. Great experience!
12) Lauren Campbell - 2 nights, and didn't get to hang out too much because she was out doing her own exciting stuff, but we had some really cool conversations about our travels
13) Kayla Cooper - I was super stoked to learn more about the Canadian North, so we had lots to talk about, and we ended up sharing some good times at random house parties
14) Jesse - Really great and enthusiastic guy who stayed for 4 nights. He brought me some Belgian trappiste beer and we had great conversations about the Congo, where his family grew up.
15) Susie Mayer - Really sweet girl, stayed for a few days before going to the Yukon and came back for another couple to tell me about the adventure! Finally got to take her to the Alibi Room - just lots of fun

Hosts: (just the people from CS, doesn't include my numerous couch-crashes with friends)

1) Elizabeth: Hong Kong - My first surfing experience was also Elizabeth's first hosting experience. I was supposed to stay for a night but ended up there for 3 at the start of my trip. It was so great that I came back with stories for another night at the end of the trip!
2) Ly Ngo: Hanoi, Vietnam - I stayed with Ly and her family for two nights and was treated to amazing home-cooked food, some in-town adventures on the back of motorbikes, and of course, beerhoi
3) Thao Hong Nguyen: Hue, Vietnam - Thao and her hilarious sister had my over to their house for dinner a couple of nights in Hue
4) Sorif Ichola: Vientienne, Laos - Unfortunately only got to spend one night with Sorif but it was really great having someone to talk to about Africa in the middle of SE Asia.
5) Anne Schopman: Amsterdam, Netherlands - My amazing cousin let me stay at her place for 4 nights and took me out on the town for Belgian beer, rijstafel, and stroopwafels!
6) Susanne Van Erp: London, UK - Helped me out last minute for a couple of nights in London. I was pretty busy with grad school meetings and applications but we managed to have a little breakfast picnic and a few drinks at the local
7) Estelle Mandigout: Brighton, UK - Only stayed with Estelle for one night but it was absolutely amazing, lots of great talk about the environment and, my favourite, Madagascar!
8) Mike Weiss: Maputo, Mozambique - Mike and his flatmate Miguel showed me the nightlife of Maputo and the beaches beyond. I honestly think he was my Brazilian twin, we had so much in common
9) Diana Panagotes: Maputo - Diana showed me around Maputo in the day and showed me the fish market where we had lunch with her family.
10) Brian: Windhoek, Namibia - Brian taught me the value of living your life through the food of the world, taking the time to stop and learn in places you don't expect, and the power of honesty to take you wherever you want to go. I'm eagerly anticipating reading his book (and the many more to come)
11) Marita van Rooyen: Windhoek - Marita and I went out for drinks in town and I got excellent travel advice for what to do in the rest of Namibia (she's a travel journalist so she knows where it's at!). She also was super nice and tried to help out when our car rental company tried to screw us over - no luck, but really great, all the same!

Interests

Scuba diving, reading, talking politics, environmentalism, hockey, football, Africa, cryptic crosswords, drinking with friends, maps, most definitely music, and, obviously, traveling!

• fish
• culture
• books
• concerts
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• indian food
• beer
• picnic
• bbq
• vegetarian
• nightlife
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• house parties
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• fishing
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• soccer
• hockey
• anthropology
• cartography
• teaching
• journalism
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Books. Reading is one of my favourite travelling past times. Here are my all times favourites:

house of leaves, shogun, pillars of the earth, ishmael, noble house, perfume, oryx and crake, creation, trainspotting, midnight's children, the time traveller's wife, a fine balance, half of a yellow sun, the poisonwood bible, god of small things, the unbearable lightness of being, we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, anil's ghost, extremely loud and incredibly close, world without end, we need to talk about kevin, dispatches, Shantaram, Millennium trilogy

Most recent favourite is 'The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts'. It's hilarious political satire!

Music. So much stuff but here's a brief list: Bob Dylan, Dispatch, State Radio, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Ali Farka Toure, Fela Kuti, Pearl Jam, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Sublime, The Aggrolites, Blind Boys of Alabama, The Beautiful Girls, OAR, Modest Mouse, Led Zeppelin, Third Eye Blind, Janis, Jimi Hendrix

Vancouver and Canadian stuff: The Tragically Hip, The Be Good Tanyas, Tamara Nile, DRMHLLR, Craig Cardiff, Jeremy Fisher, Hey Ocean!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent 3 months in Madagascar in summer 2007 working for an NGO called Azafady (www.madagascar.co.uk)that specializes in human security in the most at-risk areas of southeastern Madagascar. I lived out of a tent and ate rice and beans with a bunch of volunteers from the UK, US, Switzerland and Canada while we built a school, teacher's house and latrine in Tsihalanga (you won't find it on a map) where I met the greatest people I've ever met

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United Kingdom

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