I once wanted to learn Spanish and travel the Americas and end up flitting around on a sailboat in warm blue waters somewhere but I got on the wrong plane and fell in love with Berlin, graffiti, concrete, German and bikes. I'm a mechanic-poet, diy dilettante, lapsed vegetarian and reluctant cook, aspiring linguist, enjoyer of the mundane, rap enthusiast who can't stop dancing like it's techno playing. One day the mechanics will serve that sailboat well, until then I'm learning Spanish and looking around

Back on Couchsurfing after a looong stint of barely travelling

I am a bisexual feminist who prefers wearing clothes, but I'm not judgemental of the clothes-free community 😊

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I always wanted to do my travelling slowly, becoming familiar with other cultures, cuisines and languages as I went. Couchsurfing to me is an integral part of that, sometimes magical in how it offers a path of resistance to the commodification of everything that tech-enabled tourism tends towards. I find that tourism has its place (in fact, it's claimed many places lol), but I like to explore when I travel, and I like to leave the least dirty footprint I can. Couchsurfing empowers people to do that, it humanises travel, it's a different ritual that, if followed consciously, can crack open a portal to the subsurface dimensions. I'll happily stay in a hostel and make friends there if it's the best option available to me, but I'm on Couchsurfing because it's always been what most aligns with my values, and it's what I'd most like to contribute to with my time, energy, money, and presence

If we get on well, then mi casa es su casa

Interests

I love travelling for the spontaneity and openness, the surprising and serendipitous things which remind us that we are alive, creative and amongst each other. Still, if I go somewhere with nothing specific in mind, I'll use these activities as my outline:
- plan a walking route to take in lots of street art
- find open mics focusing on poetry and rap
- eat a variety of street food that locals eat (and also indulge in some tourist treats 🙃)
- visit handsome bookshops and browse them to my heart's content
- sit in nice spots and read my new books, peoplewatch, write, stare into space
- drink merrily with my new friends and acquaintances
- club? 👀
- go home with my soul nourished, wearing a cool sweater I found

• poetry
• street art
• politics
• etymology
• history
• linguistics
• bikes
• rap
• poetry slam
• graffiti
• philology
• mechanics

Music, Movies, and Books

A lot of rap, too many rappers to name, mostly from the US. My Morning Jacket was my favourite band for a long time, Demon Days by Gorillaz was my first album and had a huge influence on me, and Kae Tempest has left me in floods of tears every time I saw them live (that's three times). Favourite films: Snowpiercer, Network and La Haine. Books: Frankenstein, Society of the Spectacle, The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Down and Out in Paris and London

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hitchhiked from the countryside near Toulouse to Berlin in less than 36 hours while my bank account and phone were both blocked and I had just €10 in my wallet

Teach, Learn, Share

Point me to a community bike workshop and I'll bring your bike back clean and tuned nicely. Being English, my English is very good. My German too

I would like to broaden my skills in the kitchen and I would be so grateful for anything you want to teach me on that front. Give me a shopping list or take me to the market and we can cook your favourite food together, premium ingredients on me 🔥

What I Can Share with Hosts

Come with me to the community bike shop and I'll share my modest expertise and demystify the machine somewhat (don't worry, I came to mechanics late, and I got my start volunteering in an anarchist self help bike workshop, I'm a sympathetic teacher ^^)

I'm sure I'll find a nice token of my appreciation to give you while I'm exploring too. Unless I can bring you something nice from Berlin? 😊

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom