My name is Heidi and I grew up in the hot desert of Arizona. I went to college for forestry with a minor in biology and environmental communication up in the mountains of Flagstaff, northern Arizona. I have worked with animals for years and after I graduated college I worked at PetSmart and a veterinary office. Two years of that I decided I needed a change from my small college town. I applied for many forest service jobs and landed one processing and testing seeds for collections for future restoration and research projects in the beautiful land of Bend, Oregon. I fell in LOVE with hiking here especially the hikes to waterfalls where it is so forested, green, and there is so much water! My grandmother grew up in Europe and I have dreamed about visiting there and I finally got to go. I love working with insects and animals but have really enjoyed my job working with seeds.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I an traveling to Europe next summer for the first time and I love meeting new people. I feel couch surfing could help with my nerves I feel by meeting welcoming new people that can teach me about their cultures, the areas I am visiting, and show me how similar and different people from around the world can be to each other. I am also trying to keep a budget so I thought this plan could help with that. Of course it was way more about the experience of bonding with and maybe even learning how to cook foods from other countries as well.

Interests

• animals
• photography
• dancing
• swing dancing
• zumba
• traveling
• socializing
• hiking
• travel
• pop music
• meeting new people
• adventuring
• wild animals
• hiking in the mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I listen to all kinds of music but mostly enjoy country, hip hop, latin, and pop; basically anything I can dance to. I really enjoy working out to the dance aerobic zumba classes.

I enjoy comedy, chick flick, adventure, horror, thriller/suspense, and romantic movies. I especially like comedy chick flicks. I like the classic Disney Princess movies. I am not too into sci fi movies but am willing to try and watch most movies with friends. Relaxing and watching a movie is my kind of fun after a long work week.

I use to read a lot more when I was younger but unfortunately high school, marching band, and than college got in the way. I enjoy romantic, suspenseful, adventure, animal, comedic, educating (that teach me about traveling, nature, and animals), and books about short real life stories. I have a book called "Unlikely Friendships" with short stories of like it sounds unlikely friendships between animals. It is so heart warming and fun to read about dogs and pigs or a horse and a goat being friends.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have been to Alaska five times and one summer I was an intern working 6 days a week at 3 locations. It was an incredible summer where I was doing what I loved. I helped with nature walks at our forested Wynn Nature Center. There I also helped with kids programs. One of my favorite parts was working at Creatures of the Dock Tours where I taught visiting families all about the creatures under the docks. I would find sea stars and sea urchins to let people hold them and learn about them. I was a camp counselor for a week where we went tide pooling and hiked a lot. Lastly I helped a visiting artist create large sculptures created out of marine debris that are later placed in museums and nature centers to show people the issue of marine debris. Alaska is an absolutely beautiful, amazing state. It is so green there with mountains, water, and tons of flowers.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share a perspective of a nature and animal loving gal who yearns for non stop adventure but can also relax around a bonfire and tell stories. It is so fun and important for people to learn about all different cultures and life styles around the world. I would love to teach others all about what kind of interesting and fun things I have experienced throughout life and for them to teach me what it is like to live in Europe or South America or where ever I decide to travel.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belize, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Honduras, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States