CURRENT MISSION

Boldly going nowhere.

ABOUT ME

I grew up in the country in a rural area of Indiana... So, I guess you could say I'm a country girl at heart. But, I have always had a strong desire to experience how people from other cultures live and to explore the unknown. I graduated from Indiana University Bloomington this past May, but decided to follow my heart and move to Europe instead of being tied to a desk by a ball and chain. I am currently an au pair in Frankfurt, Germany (which I still think is random) for two really cool little girls.
I have a weird sense of humor, I prefer small gatherings rather than big groups (I can be shy, as much as I hate to admit it), if I can't find someone to go on an adventure with me (a bike ride, a hike, whatever it may be) I won't hesitate to go by myself, I absolutely love being outdoors (which gets me to thinking, I don't understand people who prefer to sit inside at restaurants with outdoor seating when the weather is nice...that really stumps me). If you play an instrument, I will listen with a smile (especially guitar). ;)

PHILOSOPHY

Take the scenic route.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am currently not able to host because I am living with a host family myself.. So for now I am just meeting people through CS events and hope to have my first surfing experience soon! :)

Interests

The farmer's market. Traveling (a given, right?). Cooking. Baking. A good cup of coffee. Camping. Sitting around a camp fire with friends. Hiking. Being outside. Bike rides. Blog reading. Early mornings (if I've had enough sleep).
Taking pictures (someday I will have an actual camera;)). Live music. Hammocking. The sauna! & Hot yoga... although I've only been a few times I fell in love with the feeling it gave me. I anticipate a time when I can afford such things (damn money o_o ). Traveling...
I enjoy traveling alone. I like to take pictures of doors. I like to try local beers. I like to people watch. I like to meet people along the way. I like to enjoy an authentic meal.

• writing
• books
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• baking
• yoga
• sauna
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• music
• live music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• mathematics
• au-pair
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I love travel books... My favorite books are 'Neither Here nor There' by Bill Bryson and 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed..Highly recommend both :) I enjoy listening to pretty much all types of music (with a few exceptions). I enjoy rock, reggae, indie, some country (don't judge :D), some pop/rap (when I'm exercising or sometimes dancing).. Some of my favorites are Ben Harper, Macy Gray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, Cake, Sheryl Crow... I'd love to see some live music with you. I don't watch a lot of movies/tv... Really, I am notorious for being the one who never knows what anyone's talking about when the topic is movies, actors/actresses, tv shows... So let's not talk about that when we hang out, k?

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

So many things... The first thing that comes to mind is hiking the Cinque Terre...from one quaint, vehicle-free village to the next

Teach, Learn, Share

After reading this particular part in my book, I felt the urge to share it with someone and I think here is the perfect place to do so... I can so much identify with this writer and I feel like some of you who happen to stumble upon this will as well. :)

"Whenever I would tell people that I was going off on some trip or another, I was met with remarks like, 'Oh, tough life,' or, 'That's rough'. Even good friends reacted with outright hostile envy-'Must be nice,' they often said. I used to try to explain and justify my travels. It was pointless. Travel-especially by people who rarely do it-is often dismissed as a luxury and an indulgence, not a practical or useful way to spend one's time. People complain, 'I wish I could afford to go away.' Even when I did the math and showed that I often spent less money while on the road than staying home, they looked at me with skepticism. Reasons for not traveling are as varied an complex as the justification for any behavior. Perhaps people feel this way about travel because of how it's so often perceived and presented. They anticipate and expect escape, from jobs and worries, from routine and families, but mostly, I think, from themselves-the sunny beach with life's burdens left behind. For me, travel has rarely been about escape; it's often not even about a particular destination. The motivation is to go-to meet life, and myself, head-on along the road. There's something in the act of setting out that renews me, that fills me with a feeling of possibility. On the road, I'm forced to rely on instinct & intuition, on the kindness of strangers, in ways that illuminate who I am, ways that shed light on my motivations, my fears. Because I spend so much time alone when I travel, those fears, my first companions in life, are confronted, resulting in a liberation that I'm convinced never would have happened had I not ventured out. Often, the father afield I go, the more at home I feel. Thats not because the avenues of Harare are more familiar to me than the streets of New York, but because my internal wiring relaxes and finds an ease of rhythm that it rarely does when i am at home..."
[From the book- 'The Longest Way Home']

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Spain, United States