CURRENT MISSION

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain

ABOUT ME

I was lucky to travel extensively during graduate school and spent the last couple years of my degree completing my PhD remotely. I am a bit of a free spirit and made the most of that flexibility.
I try to live life to the fullest and never take a day for granted by trying new things, visiting foreign places and challenging myself to see the world differently. I grew up camping and road tripping the US with my family. I've bopped around the globe without a permanent residence for almost two years, was semi-nomadic for four.
Now, I have a "real" job and own a townhome in beautiful Golden, Colorado. Most of my adventures these days are in my stunning local mountains.

PHILOSOPHY

"There is no passion found in settling for a life that is less than you are capable of living" -Nelson Mandela

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Many ways! Meeting people abroad, hosting people when I can, meeting travelers... During a spontaneous trip to Spain, I started surfing and have stayed in some crazy places- a Nubian village along the Nile, out in the Egyptian desert by a 7500 year old pyramid, sharing a room with an adorable Armenian grandma in Yerevan, camping in the middle-of-nowhere-South-Africa and listening to rugby over a Braai.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I heard about it from a fellow restless spirit who couchsurfed across Europe. The first time I used it in Brazil, I tagged along to a couchsurfer’s friend's birthday party and he introduced me to cairpirinhas, Truco and an overall unbeatable time. Ever since, I am hooked! I love the opportunity to get inside information on a place, try local foods (even though I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy things) and hear fascinating stories. Couchsurfing the world reminds me that places might look different, taste different and feel different but as humans, we are all the same. Everyone loves a friendly face, a safe space to exchange stories and inspiration for future adventures.

Interests

Climbing mountains (just finished the tallest 58 14,000+ foot peaks in Colorado), rock climbing, yoga (especially bikram), cooking (especially international recipes), and swimming...
Anything that gets me outside: backpacking, camping, stargazing, horseback riding, fording rivers, cloud watching, aimless wandering~~

Other: LAUGHING, road trips, street art, travel writing, live music, drum circles, animals

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I'm a country girl but I listen to almost anything... indie dance, alternative, electronic, jam bands, latin (bachata!)- some of my favorites are Jason Aldean, Tash Sultana, Thomas Rhett, Dave Matthews Band, Florence and the Machine, Hozier, Sylvan Esso, Phoenix, London Grammar, alt-J, Hozier, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Mat Kearney, Maggie Rogers, the list goes on...
Movies: I don't really have the attention span for movies but I like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Slumdog Millionaire, Moonrise Kingdom, 180 South, Into the Wild, 500 days of summer...
Books: I love anything by Paul Theroux, A Walk in the Woods, the Alchemist, The Geography of Bliss, Catcher in the Rye...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

"An adventurous life does not necessarily mean climbing mountains, swimming with sharks or jumping off cliffs. It means risking yourself by leaving a little piece of you behind in all those you meet along the way" ~Shawna Grapentin

I have been incredible places and seen extraordinary things- emerged from a sweaty mob of Indian people to see the Taj Mahal gleaming, did yoga outside the Siem Reap temples in Cambodia, got nervous watching cliff divers at the prehistoric rock formations in Niteroi (Brazil), got lost in the labyrinth of Venice but these world wonders are never the highlights of my trips. My most amazing experiences were simple moments with the incredible people along the way... surviving bicycling on cobblestones to bouldering gyms in Belgium, completing a multi day sail to Dry Tortugas National Park, partying with a marching band at a wedding in Panama, killing 3-D monsters at a Japanese arcade, taking our host (a Music City native!) to his first country concert in Nashville, reconnecting to my Hungarian heritage from a CSer in Budapest who translated my family documents, learning how to toast Georgian-style in Tbilisi, hanging on for dear life during nutty motorcycle rides in India, paragliding over Pammukale Turkey thanks to spontaneously meeting a closet CSer, drinking a beer under an explosion of stars in Luxor (Egypt), dancing the night away on the 57th floor of a Marina Bay Sands in Singapore with new friends after a CS meeting, sharing reunion snert (pea soup) in Amsterdam with a CSer I hosted years before, getting lost in an amazing Paris bookstore with a CSer I met in Egypt then hanging out again in Tunisia, watching the moonrise from a dune in the Sahara with a berber CSer, celebrating birthdays with oreo "cakes" in Petra (Jordan) with two CSers, learned how to Texas Two Step in a hillbilly bar in Arkansas owned by a man named "Bear"... pieces of me are everywhere and that is truly amazing!

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a lot about hiking, camping and traveling around the mountains of Colorado, especially the "14ers" so let me know if you have questions about those. I can teach rock climbing, swimming, physics (that used to be my job, haha) and share many stories about traveling around the world.

What I Can Share with Hosts

"The world is a book and those do not travel read only one page" -Augustine of Hippo
One of my favorite parts of hosting is, the world comes to you! You can enjoy exotic stories from around the world from the comfort of your couch and usually entertaining visitors helps you see your own home/ culture through new eyes. So I can share my stories, experiences, observations, cook, do dishes, add weird moves to spontaneous dance parties and hopefully we will laugh a lot together! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macao, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Northern Ireland, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Samoa, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, United States

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