HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I appreciate investing in new friendships that I make as I travel around the globe and stay in other people's homes and love to be available to host when feasible. COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE I'm new at Couchsurfing, per se, but have hosted and been hosted (independent of Coushsurfing) plenty of times in my life.

Sat among and petted two cheetahs in Kenya for about 15 minutes. These big cats had just finished dining on a zebra and thus were very content and not interested in munching on me. I spent most of my time sitting by one, stroking its soft fur on the side, belly, and - it took some courage for this - under it chin. Was rewarded by hearing the most robust and deepest purring I have ever heard! Also: Hike the slopes of a volcano (Mount Merapi on Java, Indonesia) while it was erupting in 2010.