CURRENT MISSION
Attitude of gratitude!

ABOUT ME

High energy, all heart, free spirited, interested in everything and grateful for life's blessings.

Rather than ask "Where is the Love" I always want to say: HERE is the love ! Right here, right now.

[Summer 2022: I’ve had the original two shot Moderna vaccines and both of their subsequent boosters … and “there is the love” for my 93 y o (vaccinated) Mom]

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have been blessed by multiple opportunities to surf with outstanding hosts and hostesses. I don't always have much opportunity to host/ess because I share Colorado caregiving duties of my now 93 year old Mom with one of my brothers and when she is with me or I am at her house there isn't space or time for too much else. When I CAN host, I hope I can provide even a small portion of the hospitality that I have so gratefully received from each and every person who has hosted me.

I learned about Couchsurfing from a “Kiwi” in 2010 at my first JazzFest in New Orleans while staying at India House hostel and it has been a joy ever since to get to know people from around the globe even if it's only to chat on the site. Nine straight JazzFests later, I finished a life chapter (spring of 2019) by selling a small home I owned for five years in Nola. I am delighted that there was a very steady ebb and flow of surfers I had the privilege to host who kept life interesting: with one slight exception, they were all supportive of the upside down “household in flux “ and helped me keep my sanity in the existing chaos. CS has been a positive 'constant’ in my life and there hasn't been a single moment I haven't relished, especially during the spring of 2019.

I wouldn't normally use time and energy to note the couple of less-than-stellar examples/ CS 'gone awry' - but in all honesty, once I got over the shock of negativity, it made me appreciate even more the 99.9% positive experiences and people who I've had the privilege of connecting with on the site. I have been using Craigslist for 18 years and feel the same way: the few bad apples can't spoil the barrel... EVER. :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Every CS experience has been a blessing. While Grand Junction isn't exactly a true CS hotspot I often spontaneously take folks in for a day or two when I meet them (so unofficially I host off the CS site) - and during my 17 year airline employment in six US cities, I always took in stray travelers... a precursor to CS-ing!
I couch surfed with a fabulous host during Jazz Fest my second year of now 11 years of attending JF which changed my life - so fun to share the music and learn SO much from my host about REAL music (as it exists in New Orleans!) was the opportunity of a lifetime - and it brought me to Nola as a part time resident, a non-city girl completely in love with a city like no other on the planet

Interests

A kitty cat extraordinaire named Cinnamon who is a bright, shining light and an experienced and fabulous camper.

I follow live music throughout the summer whenever and where ever I can... either in my VW vanagon (Putter) or by Bustang or hitchhiking; I love to road trip and travel and am willing to try learning anything; as gregarious as I am, I fly solo a lot - but am pretty easy company; hiking, mountain biking, just hanging out at the beach; red wine; MUSIC FESTIVALS - 11 New Orleans Jazz Fests and almost as many French Quarter Fests; keeping green at every possible opportunity; making friends around the world and spending time keeping them!

• arts
• music festivals
• festivals
• environment
• flying
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• live music
• jazz
• hiking
• skydiving
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• beaches
• mountains
• nature
• biking

Music, Movies, and Books

yes, yes and yes - too numerous on all fronts to name

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Every experience I have becomes the Most Amazing Thing I've Done!

examples: skydiving in the Utah desert

spending 50 days in the 50th state for my 50th birthday: the Big Island where prior to that I had only run the Kona marathon

picking Treasure Beach, Jamaica by chance on an unplanned trip to Jamaica (I was planning on meeting a favorite band/massage clients in the DR and it got canceled) and returning multiple times to lend a hand and resources to wonderful newly found friends

traveling to Cuba for a third time for the month of February 2017 after a second trip in October 2016 for my birthday celebration (after my initial trip to La Habana in December 2015 and once again finding that real friends ARE made instantaneously and they DO become forever friends)

going to Oregon for the Eclipse in August, 2017.... along with Crater Lake and the Redwoods. An unforgettable adventure added to an overflowing cup of heavenly adventures

Teach, Learn, Share

yes, yes and yes again.... I'm open to always learning new things and always trying to help others in any way possible

What I Can Share with Hosts

I hope hosts will let me spend time helping out in the household with daily chores. My Mom calls me a frustrated Handy(wo)man... so there might be something I can rig up or fix!

I have a child-like wonder that hopefully is contagious: sometimes people forget what’s in their own backyard because life gets too busy to spend time enjoying what’s right there. As long as I am blessed to travel and continue to surf the world, a note to anyone who has time to show off their city, town or country: I vow to love it as much as you do!

Countries I’ve Visited

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Scotland, Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Jamaica, United States