CURRENT MISSION

6 nation European tour throughout July, hitting UK, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. Looking to meet the real people along the way.

ABOUT ME

We are currently in Italy, on a pan-European tour of the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Denmark. Dan is English (half Danish), and Mandy is from the San Juan Islands in the U.S. (near Seattle). We consciously came to Europe with no plan; we just wanted to see where each day took us. If anybody has a spare couch or bed for us along the way, we would make excellent guests and would love to meet new and interesting people.

Back home, we both run our own companies. Mandy is a massage and craniosacral therapist, using body and energy work to help people heal from all kinds of interesting ailments (or just to relax). However, she used to teach English, specializing in pronunciation, and likes to help people learn.

I run a Buddhist-philosophy marketing agency. I help all kinds of different clients market themselves with honesty and integrity, primarily with online marketing but also with general branding and communications.

Together, on top of our day jobs, we've been setting up an ecovillage/community in Olympia, Washington in the U.S. We are currently doing a green remodel on a 1920 house, doing the initial work on an urban farm/community garden, and planning our future growth as a green building exhibition site and community of like-minded people.

We've never done CouchSurfing on this site before, so this is all a bit new. (Although Mandy is an experienced couch traveler via friends.) In terms of our personalities, we're more likely to enjoy quiet conversation with intelligent and interesting new people. Partying till late, drinking till we vomit … not so much.

Look forward to meeting you!

PHILOSOPHY

Dan: Buddhist, hippie, environmentalist, pragmatist, liberal, metaphysical. Just a meat sack enjoying a temporary experience.

Mandy: Life is awesome.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

For now, we're looking for people to stay with. When we get home, we'd like you to visit us!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Dan: None so far. Looking forward to filling out this box!

Mandy: I'm new to this website, but after college I spent three years on nomadic adventures, traveling up and down the west coast of the U.S. and around South America, Europe, and Canada. I was famous for my cooking and cleaning skills, and for being a "self-entertaining," low-maintainence guest. I settled down and got my own house, but I like to think I still have a good couch surfing resume. Couchsurfing made adventures possible that never could have happened otherwise!

Interests

Art, cooking, permaculture, recycling old things into beautiful useful new things, learning languages, visiting forests, hiking, gardening, ecological innovations of all kinds, live music and dance, cinema, hosting dinner parties.

• arts
• dancing
• cooking
• breakfast
• running
• partying
• drinking
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• music
• live music
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• boxing
• communications
• teaching
• languages
• language exchange
• tours

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Dan: Slept with cannibals in Borneo, had breakfast with lions in Tanzania, hot air ballooned over the Masai Mara, flown puddle jumpers over Angel Falls in Venezuela, scuba dived with sharks in Mexico. Been all over the world, but strangely, growing up in England, never actually experienced all that much of Europe. Fixing that problem now ...

Mandy: I met Noam Chomsky in person twice. ;)

Teach, Learn, Share

Mandy is a TEFL certified English teacher, and loves to learn languages. Language exchanges are always welcome and interesting.

Dan and Mandy both love to cook and are interested in learning regional cuisines, as well as teaching their style of Pacific Northwest cooking. They are also permaculture designers and would love to see your garden, discuss your garden, help with your garden, give you tours of their garden, etc.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States