CURRENT MISSION

Reconnect with my hometown.

ABOUT ME

I love people, and I love trying new things. I just got back from a two year Peace Corps stint in Mozambique, adapting to a radically different culture. A culture very unlike any I've ever experienced. I'm also a Burner, and completed my third burn two weeks after my return to the States. Now I'm back in California and attempting to incorporate all I've learned from African and Burner culture into my new adventures in my hometown. What shenanigans will I get into next? I hope you'll join me to find out. :)

PHILOSOPHY

Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Everyone has their own story to tell, and anyone has the potential to impact your life if you'll only give them the chance. That's why I constantly try to meet new people and try new things. How can you know truly know yourself unless you step out of your comfort zone?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted and been hosted a few times. Its been a long time though, and I'd like to get back into it. I'm becoming quite a seasoned traveler, and I love to just swap travel and cross-cultural stories with others. Couchsurfing is a great medium to do so.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few couples, from both the US and abroad. And I've been a host in Sydney. Now I hope to get more involved in the Long Beach Couchsurfing group, since I recently moved back to my hometown.

Interests

Traveling, exploring, meeting new people, listening, learning bits and pieces of every language imaginable, world news, world politics, individualism (radical self-reliance), collectivism (radical inclusion), consciousness, religious studies, trivia, karaoke, health and wellness, pop culture, pop music, indie rock, reading, journaling, raconteuring.

• culture
• cooking
• gardening
• politics
• news
• trivia
• reading
• traveling
• music
• karaoke
• history
• psychology
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: The Shawshank Redemption, 500 Days of Summer, Forrest Gump, The Big Lebowski, V for Vendetta, L'Auberge Espagnole, Memento, Labyrinth, any David Lynch film, horror movies.

Music: I love pop, indie rock and indie pop. Some of my favorites include Lady Gaga, Rilo Kiley, Okkervil River, and Tegan and Sara.

Books: First and foremost, I love books that are about books (because I"m meta like that). Examples: Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind. I also like angsty books that teach us lessons on how to fully live and enjoy life yet how to accept death and change. Examples include Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived in rural Africa for two years, pooping in a hole and taking bucket baths. You gain quite an appreciation for the luxuries of Western culture after that.

Teach, Learn, Share

I studied psychology in university and worked in a mental health clinic afterwards, so I know quite a bit about different structures of the brain and what they do, and how drugs can affect the functioning of those structures.

I also love history and seeing just how similar past events line up with current events. Maybe that's why I'm such an avid trivia player?

I would love to learn practical, hands-on skills like car maintenance, cooking, and gardening.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Malawi, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mozambique, Netherlands, United States

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