CURRENT MISSION

To mingle with the Universe, and feel, what i can ne'er express but cannot all conceal

ABOUT ME

I am a short, happy extrovert with a passion for travel, new experiences and meeting people. I have a sarcastic and slightly dark sense of humour and find it easy to talk to new people and settle into new places. I enjoy a drink and rock and roll music. I treat life very lightheartedly and can sometimes play the devil's advocate. I like having discussions about all manner of things.

I grew up and have lived in Western Australia for most of my life. Initially in the country and now I live in Perth. I come from a fairly big family and have always lived with multiple pets. I love animals and am definitely a dog person.

I work as an archaeologist in Perth, WA. Its a great job and I means I get to travel, 4wd, spend time with Indigenous people talking about their culture, work outdoors and be a grubby bogan for a living, not bad!

I am not very girly or fashionable. I don't like going to the hippest club in town or shopping. I much prefer laid back group hangouts, cheap drinking, live bands, good fun times.

I spend my free time with my twin sister and my cute nephews, socialising with friends, going to the beach, hiking and camping, vegging out with my boyfriend (read saving money to travel!), watching movies/surfing the internet and researching travel.

I have always enjoyed travel and dreaming of future travels. Me and my boyfriend are embarking on the ultimate trip at the moment, incorporating multiple dream trips in one. We are travelling without an itinerary and with a flexible, half-planned route around the world, including South America, Antarctica, The USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Nepal.

We are hoping to do a lot of camping and hiking throughout the world, to travel slowly and really feel places instead of tick something off a list.

You can read about our adventures at holleeandmitchell.wordpress.com. We are six months into our trip and South America was wonderful, now for the USA!

PHILOSOPHY

I don’t believe in/haven't found God or a higher power. I believe that our time on earth is short and the purest way to spend it is enjoying nature, loving your friends and family and getting the most out of your time. I guess I informally subscribe to a Buddhist view of life and way of interacting with the people around me.

I also believe in treating every day as your last and not sweating the little things in life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I would love to experience the places that I travel to from the point of view of a local and I cant wait to meet fun loving, like-minded people who I can show my home off to later.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

At this time I have yet to couch surf or host but a couple of years ago I had about eight travelers informally couch surf in my two bedroom flat in Perth over a summer. It was one of the best times in my life and I still have great relationships with the people I met. Several of which have travelled back to Australia and stayed again, one has become engaged to my friend and is living here and most cannot wait for me to return the favour and stay with them in their home countries. I made some fantastic, like minded, life-long friends and can't wait to have similar experiences around the world.
I think staying with a local is the best way to truly experience a place and I also love the feeling of a world-wide, free, sharing community. That is what life and travel should be about.

Interests

I like the beach, surfing, reading, drinking/socialising, the outdoors, the sun, music, food, history, culture and a good cup of tea.
I enjoy experiencing new things and scaring myself (scary movies, adventure activities etc).
My boyfriend has turned my into a pseudo nerd, I am now into Reddit and Starcraft and have nearly completed Portal (mucho brownie points). I haven't told him yet that we are not taking a laptop with us travelling...

When I travel I generally like to be out and about all day. I like to walk around and see the sights, eat out, visit the big attractions and such. I do like going out but that is not a priority for me during travels (usually on a bit of a budget) and I would describe myself as more of a morning person. I like going out to pubs with new friends and such, rather than clubbing.

• animals
• pets
• dogs
• culture
• dining
• yoga
• working out
• drinking
• clubbing
• pub crawls
• shopping
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• eating out
• socializing
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing
• archeology
• history
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy listening to a lot of different styles of music but if I had to choose one it would be mainstream rock. Mainly AC/DC, Foo Fighters, RHCP, Everclear, Metallica etc. I really enjoy music that gives me energy and fires me up.

Books- fantasy, non-fiction, historical fiction, travel writing and blogs. I am a big reader so i will pretty much read everything/anything. I am currently reading the Game of Thrones books.

I like a lot of different movies.
Favorite movies are Boondock Saints, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Anchorman- the legend of Ron Burgundy, Into the Wild, The Hangover.
Recently seen good ones: The Help, American History X, and Paranormal Activity.

TV- 30 Rock, The Office (English), Black Books, Weeds, United States of Tara, The Mentalist, Game of Thrones, Grand Designs, The Gruen Transfer etc

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I think back on it, it was amazing that me and my sister survived backpacking around Western Europe when we were 17. The drive to go there alone, save enough for the trip but mostly the lack of care we took whilst travelling amazes me now. We had a very trusting view of people but then again nothing terrible happened. That initial trip left me with an idealised view of travelling and the world which has not left me yet, which i think is amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I don't know that I have much to share or teach but I am very willing to learn.
I can share stories about life in Australia, working as an Indigenous Archaeologist, my travels. I can give advice about having a nerdy boyfriend ;)
I can teach English, tell some inappropriate jokes, teach you the rules of AFL.
I have seen some people write they can teach yoga, I would like to see a shoulder stand in real life, I am pretty sure it is impossible...

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Argentina, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia