CURRENT MISSION

plan more than I am inclined to

ABOUT ME

I couchsurfed a lot during a year abroad on a fellowship... including in India, Tanzania, Chile, and all over Europe. I loved the connections that couchsurfing offered. After a long time on mountain trails having a human conversation was necessary and a joy. My hosts have kept me going when I felt really weary or sad. Couchsurfing has been a highlight of the year, certainly, and I am so glad to continue participating.

My blog from that year of travel is still up: check out watsonyear.blogspot.com if you are interested in seeing pictures of my big green gregory backpack, or me with any of my various couchsurfing hosts so far. You will notice if you check out my photos that I am usually wearing the same clothes... somehow my pack still ended up really big and heavy, but I don't let that detract from exploring long trails.

PHILOSOPHY

working on it...

visited 34 states (68%)Create your own visited map of The United States

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

for now, I am a surfer... building trust one couch at a time.

And I can't help but talk about CS to other travelers I meet - spread the word! Sometimes I start talking with travelers and I can just bet they are CSer from the laid-back style of their traveling.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have stayed with some great people and enjoyed getting a local view of the places I visited. My hosts have been so welcoming, so helpful, and I can`t wait to return the favors to others next year.

An awesome couchsurfing experience I had was while hiking in Lauca National Park in northern Chile. I met Laurent on the back of a police truck... the police took us closer to a trailhead and we climbed the 5,000 meter Guane Guane peak together, for great views of the conical volcanos. Laurent wrote suggestions for me about CSers in Chile and Argentina for my upcoming months of travel and described his favorite places to visit while we were resting at the top of the mountain. It was a random, short connection, but I loved that we had CS in common.

I have been traveling for a while now and the thing that I love about CS is that feeling of sinking into a bed in a comfortable house, with new friends nearby, feeling safe, warm, excited, and tired from a busy day. The places I sleep in the mountains can be isolated, and lonely. CS gives me a chance to feel at home-- to have the simple comforts of going to a sink downstairs to get a class of water or to sit quietly and read a book on the couch. I feel so lucky in the hosts I have had, in those that have opened their homes and given me this net when I needed it most.

Interests

volleyball, soccer, maps, languages, hiking, coaching, travel, biking, history, good food, good wine, friends, reading, newspapers, the mountains

• books
• dining
• wine
• clothing
• reading
• traveling
• blogging
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• rock climbing
• soccer
• volleyball
• cartography
• emergency services
• history
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

classic American films (1950s and earlier) especially with Hepburn and Tracy. Also, think screwball comedies, Bogart and Bacall, and musical comedies both new and old.
music: modern music is fun but my favorite is showtunes- classic Broadway stuff like Rodgers and Hammerstein and Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, but I also go in for newer musicals like Wicked. In London most recently I saw Sunset Boulevard and Jersey Boys ... both good but there is nothing like an R&H classic

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My favorite experience so far was biking the Pacific coast from San Francisco to my house in Santa Monica. It took a long 12 days to do it, but it was the most challenging thing I have ever done, both physically and emotionally. There was nothing like climbing the hills of Big Sur and stopping at the top to see how far we'd come.
Also, hiking to the top of Yosemite Falls on a beautiful clear day--next up has to be Half Dome.
Most recently... well Kilimanjaro wasn't half bad.

Teach, Learn, Share

How to play volleyball? Bump, set, and spike it!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States

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