My CS Story: I was introduced to Couch Surfing through a friend of mine that had started her world wide wandering a bit before me. My first surfing experience was in Glasgow, Scotland with a host named Douglas (check out his review of my stay). Even though I was only in town for one day Douglas was kind enough to host me and I'm so glad he did. In our short amount of time together we had a very rich experience. Douglas invited some of his friends over that night for dinner where he made traditional Scottish fare - haggis and blood sausage with a side of nips (turnips) and tatties (potatoes). We all concluded the night with a trip to a local establishment for some good scotch. It was a wonderful evening. Since that first experience I have surfed in Dublin, Bergen, Madrid, and Mallorca. In Dublin I made some life long friends and was even invited back for Christmas, which I excepted and had a lovely time.

My Hosting Story: After my year abroad I moved back to Chicago and got my own place. Even though it was only a small studio I was excited for the opportunity to do my part and give back as a CS host. My first surfer was a young lady from North Korea and my second was a gentleman from Germany. Both experiences, while different, were great and helped me feel like I was doing my part - as is the spirit of the CS community.

My Story (or at least a bit of it): I consider my self to be from the Chicago land area (NW suburbs to be exact) however I was born in TX and moved around quite a bit until I was about 10 - TX, IL, MD, Brazil, and then back to IL. I fist traveled to Europe in high school with the school band & orchestra (I played the oboe, until recently any way). That experience, plus having moved a lot in my youth, really helped my wanderlust take hold.

After college I worked for a year, saved my money, and then moved to the Netherlands to work as an Au pair and travel, of course. Two years after moving back to IL and living in Chicago I applied, and was accepted, to graduate school in Boston. I'm now 1 1/2 semesters in to the Arts Administration program at Boston University... any way I think that's enough for now...

If I'm surfing with you I'd be more then happy to cook us a meal - I made tacos for my host in Bergen. I enjoy going around/hanging out with my host but I'm just as keen to explore by myself, a little of both is usually ideal. I am generally an out going person though.

(If you've read through my profile prove it by mentioning the oboe*)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surf & host: I've seen a lot of hosts on here writing about how the CS culture has changed. The complaint seems to be that people are abusing the system and only using couch surfing as a free place to stay. I'm going to go ahead a say that the fact that couch surfing is free is definitely a perk. Thanks to couch surfing I was able to stay twice as long in Europe after my year as an au pair finished. Through couch surfing I also got to know people and the cities I stayed in on a much more intimate level. The best evidence I have for this type of experience is probably from one of my very first CS experiences. Not only did I meet some wonderful people during that trip, but they also invited me back to spend Christmas with them and I have subsequently made some life long friends thanks to this site. I have also had great experiences with hosting surfers, for varying lengths of time. Perhaps I have been lucky that the people I've hosted have had a similar mind set as me and that in addition to finding the most affordable place to stay during their travels have also wanted to get to know me and my city. Thankfully I am not too jaded yet with the CS culture and I hope to stay that way.

So .. Yes, please do read my profile whether you're hoping to surf with me or deciding to host me. No this is NOT a hook-up site, so please don't make that a goal when you're on here - blatantly asking me sexual questions is not cool, it's creepy (and yes I'm speaking from experience). Yes I do know that if you're asking to stay with me you are probably on here in order to find a free place to stay, just be a decent person, be interested in getting to know me, and show me you are on here for good honest reasons. If I'm requesting to stay with you YES I have read your profile. It is important to me and safer if I have an idea of your personality. If I message you it's because you seemed like a person I would like to get to know, so lets chat.. Can we agree to just accept these things and get to know one another a bit, ok great.

Interests

I am a pretty legit classical music nerd. Grew up around classical music and I played oboe for several years.. I learned to love biking while living in The Netherlands, but like "normal" biking not sport biking - I'm not that intense. I can be really curious at times. I'll try just about any food once, unless it's really spicy.. I prefer my tastebuds not to be on fire.. my interests can very a lot, typically if a persona can speak passionately and informedly on a topic I'll listen.

• cooking
• yoga
• traveling
• music
• biking
• learning new things

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: The Lobster, Arsenic and Old Lace, Forest Gump, Ben Hur (growing up my family kept sabbath and this was one of the few movies my parents let me watch on Saturdays - so naturally I watched it like every Saturday - if you can picture a 7 year old sitting through this movie, repeatedly.. yeah that was me), Frances Ha, It's a wonderful life, Philadelphia Story, Midnight in Paris, Amelie, Shakespeare in Love...

Music: Beethoven, Bach, Stravinsky - easy to like... Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Hozier, Florence and the Machine, Feist, Little Comets, Alt J, Led Zeppelin...

Books: Eat, Pray, Love, books by Paulo Coelho, A Handmaid's Tale...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In college I played 2nd oboe in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade - amazing experience!!!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach people how to cook Brazilian style rice, I am always looking to learn, and I'll share a laugh with you.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm learning to teach yoga, I'll share what I can. I can read music, speak português, and I'm a decent cook - willing to share all of that

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Taiwan, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Netherlands, United States