Massachusetts born and raised, I'm always excited to travel, see new places, and meet new people. I love good food, hiking, rock climbing, bicycling, and swimming in ponds and lakes.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

For 2016-2017, I have been awarded the Watson Fellowship, a post graduate fellowship that funds one year of purposeful, independent travel, the only rule is I have to research a topic that I am passionate about and stay out of the United States for the entire year.

For my Watson year I will be traveling to Japan, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Denmark, and Australia exploring how the farm-to-table system manifests itself across nations. I will study which conditions allow this localized food system to thrive, withstanding rapid urbanization, economic challenges, and a changing global climate, and when and why it fails to compete with the expanding factory farm system. To do this, I plan to live and volunteer on farms, visit markets, learn local recipes, interview farmers and NGO officials, and share as many family meals as possible. By sharing skills, meals, and stories, I hope to learn how communities in each country have come to maintain a happy and healthy relationship with their food system, environment, and what is on their plate.

At the heart of this project is the act of sharing family meals, I believe there is no better way to learn about a culture, community, people and their food system than to share meals and conversation. My purpose in couch surfing is to share my experiences (recipes and stories, findings from my year of research) with you and in return, learn more about how you have experienced food shopping, farming, cooking, or even just eating, in your home country. What do you love about your food system? What do you hate? What is your favorite traditional recipe? I can't wait to find out.

Interests

• culture
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• gardening
• shopping
• traveling
• hiking
• surfing
• wrestling
• rock climbing
• swimming
• volunteering
• lakes

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I was also the only girl my high school's wrestling team. I don't think that is necessarily amazing because I got my butt kicked many times, but it is a fun fact!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm happy to share my cooking and recipes from home, conversations in English if you'd like someone to practice with, farming/gardening/horticulture skills and knowledge, I have also been a nanny for 4 years and definitely miss the kids I spent those 4 years with--would love to share some babysitting time if you have kids!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bahamas, Denmark, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United States