I'm Canadian who left her job in Canada to spend a year in Australia, fully intending to return to her stable life after a year break. Of course, that didn't happen so after a year I ended up in Vietnam teaching English. Fell totally in love with the country and so I stayed and opened bar. I live with my awesome fiance and couple of rescue cats who like to bite toes and cuddle.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I travel I want to learn a bit more about how locals live and hopefully find some interesting spots that would otherwise remain hidden. I love having visitors in Hanoi- it's a fun city to show off and the guide books don't do it justice.

Interests

When I'm travelling I like the weird and the wonderful. One of my favourite things to see when I'm travelling is strange theme parks. So far I've been to a Catholic theme park in Argentina Dollywood, in America and a truly bizarre Buddhist theme park in Vietnam. I also love anything to do with the intersection of Christianity and local folklore and museums dedicated to obscure local heroes.

• writing
• folklore
• cocktails
• traveling
• music
• live music
• country music
• folk music
• hiking
• cinema
• circus
• theatre
• bartending
• theme parks
• trapeze
• bicycles

Music, Movies, and Books

I like weird Americana/country (The Handsome Furs, Neko Case), depressing indie-pop (Stars, The National) and bunch of old men with gravelly voices (Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave)
I always love Russian literature (Crime & Punishment, The Master & Margarita, any play by Chekov), but I'm also down for some dystopian speculative fiction (Margret Atwood's Madd Addam trilogy, The City by China Meville, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro)
Films.... 9 to 5 , Heathers, Belle du Jour. Probably bunch more, but lately I'm succumbed to the whole just watching high quality TV instead.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Damn. I don't know. Life is pretty amazing. Putting one experience here seems weirdly braggy and undervalues all the small amazing moments. Literally tripping over a wombat on my way to the bathroom at night while camping in Australia was pretty funny though.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm a good cook and I'd be happy to make you a special dinner.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, Viet Nam