Hey there, I’m Katie, born to English/German parents (though I'm a lousy German and don't speak a word!) I I spent 18 years on this crazy beautiful planet living on a little island called Sri Lanka before moving to Wales to pursue my dream of studying music at university, doing an Erasmus in Poland , returning, breaking my neck, moving to Scotland, becoming a teacher and leaving the profession to work for a cycling charity!

I find beauty in the world very easily. I sing, I play the flute, I draw, I watch, I photograph, I forage, I climb trees and sometimes I smile until my mouth hurts.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

I had my first Couchsurfing experience with a friend straight out of school and it was truly the most beautiful experience. We met some incredible people and are total converts to the culture of Couchsurfing and sharing our philosophies and skills and smiles (and couches of course)!

So far, we haven't had our own places to be host ourselves but hopefully that will soon change and we can't wait to welcome you back :)

This summer my friend, (who was incidentally also paralysed, but by a man falling on top of her from a shopping centre balcony) gets married in Istanbul and I need to get myself there (from Edinburgh ) by the 11th of July (which is incidentally also the anniversary of my accident- my "crippleversary"!)...I don't want to fly because I'm an eco-zealot...so I figured I would cycle!

Now I do have some level of realism. My handcycle has its limits, its not great on really steep hills (traction), it can do surfaces that aren't asphalt but not single tracks, gravel or big mud, I can't take infinite time off work and my own body definitely isn't capable of doing the whole route anyway BUT I figured I could get myself an interrail pass and dip in and out of the most scenic and accessible parts...

Except, almost none of the trains are accessible either so it will also involve a hilarious amount of bumbling, shoveage and piggy backs. Thankfully, I'll be travelling with my incredible, functional-leg owning friend, and former date (not the broken-neck one), Archie who can get me out of trouble and give me the odd piggyback over obstacles if needed.

We'll be crossing 10 countries, relying on the kindness of strangers at every turn to overcome ridiculous barriers, while getting very excited by every good tree and plant we find and probably navigating unchartered levels of chaos and messiness. I am hilariously underprepared, currently don't even have a functional bike, broke 3 limbs last year, dont know where I'm going to poop every night, am physiologically incapable of sweating in summer balkan heat, cant speak any of the languages and have only cycled 70km once in my life, but what could possibly go wrong.

All we can guarantee is, it's going to be a STORY.

Along the way we want to raise awareness for some of the causes that are most important to us- of Palestine and migration and inequality, and also highlight some of the issues around disability and access and privilege, experience different countries and cultures and get to meet some of you!

兴趣

Katie:
Well i think i got most of it out in the about section, but just to recap:
I love and adventure, I make music ( i sing and play the flute and ukulele), photography (I do some work as a photographer and its one of my biggest passions), dabble in art, and enjoy reading and listening to podcasts. Sadly I also often end up at protests for more and more social issues these days, whether or not they make a difference. But being outside in nature is one of my biggest passions- i love foraging for weeds and just sitting for hours amongst the green on my bike or up a tree in my adapted paragliding harness.
https://www.instagram.com/arkatier/

• animals
• dogs
• arts
• books
• poetry
• singing
• performing arts
• design
• fashion
• photography
• ethics
• recipes
• vegan
• yoga
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• live music
• classical music
• backpacking
• sports
• archery
• philosophy
• road trips
• flute
• veganism
• environmentalism
• green living

音乐、电影和书籍

Music- I love indie folk most of all. Artists like The Paper Kites, James Vincent Mcmorrow, Bon Iver and Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Matt Corby but there's many more where that came from and I'd love to share... I also like classical music (and a bit of everything else)

Movies- hmm, I'm not the biggest movie buff I'm afraid but I recently watched Whiplash and really enjoyed it. Mao's Last Dancer and White Nights are two others that spring to mind...

Books- I'd have to say The Little Prince (Le petite Prince) is my favourite book of all time but i also love Uncle Toms Cabin and books like The Kite Runner- often sad books that have grounding of realism that tell a story and really make me feel something. These days i listen to and read more non-fiction books on social topics

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Getting taught to firedance by a chef on an island in Tonga!

教，学，和分享

All things photography, the 3 ukulele chords i know ( :p ) ( I would offer to teach you the flute or at least play for you but i fear the likelihood that you happen to have a flute lying around without knowing how to play it is pretty slim!), vegan recipes, draw you a picture, attempt to teach a dog to shake hands and share all my stories and knowledge about Sri Lanka and my pretty great taste in indie folk ;)

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

We don't have much to offer in the way of big material gifts to show our appreciation but we'll do our best to at least have a token of our appreciation ( a postcard or some chocolates from home or where we've recently been for example) and when possible we can try and bake you something if you would like. Other than that we can share our smiles and stories from our lives and travels.

我游览过的国家

Austria, Belgium, Cook Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tonga, Wales

我居住过的国家

England, Poland, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Wales