CURRENT MISSION

To make a new friend every single month, whether on the road or at home. :-)

ABOUT ME

I'm an author (I write books in English), editor, dreamer, traveller, foodie, blogger, photographer, media professional. I'm in love with life...

My friends currently range in age from 2 years to 92. Love them all.

PHILOSOPHY

Carpe diem! Every new-born day can be as wonderful as I choose to make it.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

When I travelled through South America over 99 days in 2013-2014, I often Couchsurfed. When I landed I spoke no Spanish or Portuguese, and knew exactly four people on the continent. By the time I flew home, I had been adopted by wonderful people and families I will always cherish. I know they will visit me in India one day.

I also enjoy hosting travellers whenever my guest room is free. I love the way strangers enter my door ~ and leave as friends. A smile is, truly, the shortest route across millions of miles.

Important: I prefer to host single women or young couples.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Beyond positive. I've enjoyed meeting so many intelligent, warm and loveable people as I travel or host. I feel much richer and happier for the experience.

Centres d'intérêt

What I love best:

~ Conversations in face time.
~ Reading.
~ Writing.
~ Photography.
~ Painting.
~ Theatre.
~ Music.
~ Dance.
~ Films.
~ Art, including videography, installation and performance art.
~ Sunrises. Sunsets.

• arts
• writing
• performing arts
• photography
• beauty
• dancing
• cooking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• communications

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

Movies:

~ Life of Pi
~ Gone with the Wind
~ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
~ Taare Zameen Par
~ Juno
~ Slumdog Millionaire
~ The Descendants
and many more

Music:

~ Jazz.
~ Blues.
~ World Music
~ Reggae
~ Hindustani vocalists like Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi, and Koshori Amonkar.
~ Carnatic musicians like MS Subbalakshmi, Bombay
Jayashree and Sanjay Subramanyam.

Books:

~ 'Cool' by Michael Morpurgo (love all his books)
~ 'Kiss the Dust' by Elizabeth Laird
~ 'Unaccustomed Earth' by Jhumpa Lahiri
~ 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
~ 'Mornings in Jenin' by Susan Abulhawa
~ 'Twisted Tales from Shakespeare' by Richard Armour
~ 'I know why the caged bird sings' by Maya Angelou

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

Three moments I’ll never forget:

~ Watching the seal nursery at Pieterburen in the Netherlands with my friends Herman and Ineke Wekker from Groningen in 1990. Truly moving! And sea lions playing in the waves off the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off Glasgow, with Derek and Chris in 2001.

~ Trekking through the Markha Valley in Ladakh in 2008, getting snowed in within our tents through a long, dark night, then finding our way back to safely, away from the frozen pass that led to Pangong Lake.

~ Looking at Michelengelo's original statue of David at the Accademia in Florence/ Firenze in 1997, and crying... because I couldn't imagine how human hands could create such enduring beauty!

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

'When you’re traveling, you are what you are, right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.'
~ William Least Heat Moon

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'Don't bring negative to my door.' ~ Maya Angelou

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'A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.' ~ Jerry Seinfield

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'Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.'

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Ce que j'aimerais partager avec mes hôtes

~ Hundreds of happy stories about human encounters.

~ Collective cooking experiences in their kitchen

~ A million non-intrusive questions, couched with warmth

Pays que j'ai visités

Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Myanmar, Northern Ireland, Peru, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, United States, Wales

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

India

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