HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I think this is amazing, both for my future travels and for your travels to my neck of the woods. I'll let you use my washer/shower, show you my favorite restaurants, and tell you every random fact I know about Dallas. Or, if you just need directions to the closest Wal-mart, I can do that too. I've rarely traveled to another place without CSing. It's given me, hands down, the best way to experience a city--through the eyes and minds of the amazing people who live there. Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and countless other places just wouldn't have been the same without it. COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE Is OG-CSer a thing? I remember when CS was just a website and not an app. I've been surfing for 10+ years and I hope I never stop! The first Couchsurfer I met was great. His name was Skip and he didn't need my couch, but we had a day of unforgettable adventures. I've stayed with some pretty amazing guys in Scotland and Amsterdam (Sam and Leon!) on my way to Africa in 2009. Both were unforgettable experiences. I stayed with two different surfers in NYC last year who were both amazing and accommodating. New York has one of the best CS communities out there, I swear. I've also surfed in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a wonderful young Ozarkian named Daniel. Oklahoma on a military base when my sister became a soldier. San Diego in a sailboat on the water. A basement apartment in a co-op in Atlanta. The list goes on!

Books: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Music: Father John Misty, This Will Destroy You, The Rocket Summer, Adele, Motion City Soundtrack, Slow Club, Glen Hansard, The Swell Season, Brand New, Sara Bareilles, I can make a mess like nobody's business, The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons, a host of Dallas folk bands... I could go on... Movies: Call Me By Your Name, Patch Adams, Once, and A Walk to Remember. (Obviously, I'm a girl.) Also, The Big Lebowski and Four Lions. Once.