My life goal is to be able to empathize with 100% of the people on the planet, from suicide bombers to Wall Street bankers to rural third world villagers. It'd be cool if it paid off in some enlightened Nobel Peace prize winning kind of way eventually, but if it doesn't, it'll at least have been a great excuse to travel the world, talk to all the people, and do all the things.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I tried to use it to find a roommate in Nairobi (unsuccessfully) and moved on to just hosting and showing people around the city. I can't host right now unfortunately, but hope to move somewhere I'll be able to soon!

I've hosted via Couchsurfing a handful of times and surfed even less, but I've been taken in by kind strangers in general and had the most amazing experiences along the way. I am more excited about the people and nature part of travel than the museums and buildings part, so the idea of going to a new place and booking a room, when I could be meeting new interesting people instead, just bums me out a little quite frankly.

Interests

Dancing, speaking many languages poorly, waxing philosophical, not buying things.

• yoga
• meditation
• traveling
• hiking
• rock climbing
• biking
• learning
• listening
• weight training
• brazilian jiu jitsu
• organizing
• labor

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Way back in college, I met Paul Kagame during an internship in Rwanda. Sort of. I was carrying two cups of tea and so nervous about standing two feet away from a president/dictator/ex-guerilla leader that my hands were shaking and the saucers were chattering against the tea cups. I ended up getting trapped in a crowd with no way to put the cups down and free up a hand to shake his. (I was a little sad afterwards about missing this opportunity, so vowed to forever count staring at him like a dear in the headlights as meeting him! ;) )

Teach, Learn, Share

I facilitate mindfulness/meditation classes at my workplace, so am happy to share what I know about that, or guide a meditation. In the past couple years I've also gotten heavily involved in a bunch of grassroots organizing (first electoral and then labor organizing), so can share stories/tips about how to get more engaged and make an impact in your community/government/workplace/world. (And if you're not interested in either of those things, I'm also totally happy to not talk about any of it. 😂)

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland, Togo, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Egypt, India, Kenya, Uganda, United States

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