We live in the suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. Two years ago we returned from a 19-month trip to Europe (my husband Ralph is Irish) with our two boys, Eoin (11) and Alex (13). On that trip we tried couchsurfing for the first time, and had memorable experiences in Kerry (Ire.), Brussels, Budapest, Salzburg, and Salon-de-Provence. And one year ago we went to Mexico for two months over Christmas and New Years.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It's taken us a while to realise that travelling without meeting local people is a bit, well, pointless really, so we're belatedly making up for lost time by trying to meet the people who actually live in the places we visit. We like the couchsurfing ethos and community, and will respond to anyone who takes the time to read our profile and shows an interest in our travels as well as their own.

Interests

I'm a librarian and predictably, I love reading. I also love music, and am teaching myself piano and the concertina. I can speak English (naturally!), Greek, some German and I'm learning Spanish.

My husband is a web developer, and has also studied photography. He enjoys writing, playing guitar, and he has a thing for languages. He speaks English, Spanish, French, Irish and a bit of Greek.

Our boys love playing with Lego, reading, writing stories, playing Magic the Gathering, D&D and playing games on their computer. They both love animals but have not had much experience with them as they have always lived in the city.

• animals
• writing
• photography
• reading
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• piano
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

If you'd like to know more about us have a look at https://kouklahouse.com. That`s our travel blog.

Ralph wrote a book about Greece, called 'A Season on Zante' at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0150FZ44G

Paddy Leigh Fermor is our hero. He should be better known.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We quit our jobs and took our boys to see Europe for 19 months!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach us about your country and language, and hopefully we can do the same for you.
We can give you some advice about how to travel with kids.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom