CURRENT MISSION

Big plans, sunshine, rivers, good food.

ABOUT ME

I'm observant, content, independent. I like baking bread and cooking for friends. I'm attentive and flexible while traveling, and at home I run a tight ship. I love to be outside, doing things, and so I love summer, with its big plans and possibilities — bike rides, cookfires, somebody's homebrew, dirty river drifts and camping, rooftops, fireworks, painted canvas tents.

For the past few months I've been living in a tiny town in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Normally, I live in West Philadelphia. I'm working on renovating my house, where I live with some friends and a little gray cat. I grow food and send presents, and think about how to turn this crazy thing around.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm new to this! Interested in hosting and traveling via CS.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted at my home in Philly, and am looking to travel and find hosts this summer in southern France. Excited to use couchsurfing to get a local perspective on new places!

Interests

I love traveling by river and by foot, so usually my adventures take place in a small area, not so far from where I live. (Thoreau: "I have traveled much, in Concord.") Mornings are my favorite time of day, especially when I'm camping — I love that moment before anyone else is up when the mist is rising and you can stretch and build a fire and make coffee.

I'm a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, specializing in design for nonprofits.

I'm an artist, interested in alchemy, utopian projects, eutopian projects, acts of autonomy, dystopic patterns, art as an act of generosity, art as rebellion, art as a secret.

I'm an aspiring generalist: learning to build and mend and grow and cook and preserve useful, beautiful things.

Some skills: making curry, coffee and cake, drawing portraits, starting fires, coming up with elaborate plans. I know my cardinal directions and have a good sense of smell. I'm good at hosting parties. I make mean skillet bread when I'm camping. I can hold my breath underwater longer than you can. I love singing and have some pet instruments I play around with to amuse myself—banjo, violin, ukulele. I remember song lyrics for decades.

• pets
• cats
• arts
• singing
• design
• graphic design
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• baking
• running
• partying
• traveling
• homebrewing
• drawing
• violin
• cycling
• camping
• animation
• freelancing
• rivers
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The first time I made fire with a bow-drill was elating and profound. Little nest of tinder with an ember egg, kindling to flame out of nothing in my palm.

The other day in the woods I saw a couple of mink slides -- smooth chutes left by minks sliding downhill in the snow on their bellies. It made me laugh out loud.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make a whistle out of an acorn cap, or how to make delicious slow-rise bread.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United States