*** On January 12th, 2015, I'm headed to Mastatal, Costa Rica -- my home and classroom for the next 12 months! I don't have a return ticket yet, but I plan on returning to the mountains and pines of Montana in early 2016. Until then, happy travels, grand adventures, deeper laugh lines and much love to you, couchsurfers!***

I grew up in the Mission Mountains, a range bordering the western edge of the Swan Valley, about 80 miles north of Missoula. I moved to Missoula in 2007 and it's been my home base since!

I spend as much time as possible hiking, climbing, biking, growing things, building things, singing, cooking, drawing, goat herding, cheese making and oh man, generally being outside. I love getting to know people by listening to their stories and sharing mine.

Over the past few years, the desire to work with my hands and a love for both education and adventure have inspired me to seek learning experiences in a diversity of places and settings. I believe that just as the strongest communities are built from a diverse group of individuals, the healthiest gardens are grown with a variety of plants, and the strongest education comes from a wide array of experiences. For me, these have ranged from building hugelkultur garden beds and rocket stoves in Spain to goat herding and cheesemaking in the Italian Alps, followed by being a student in the School of Forestry at the University of Montana, living and learning at a garden center in County Cork, Ireland, and working for Northwest Connections, an organization in my hometown which embodies community conservation and place-based education. Through each new experience, the power of a strong community as well the necessity of finding sustainable solutions for the challenges we face have become more evident and, in so many ways, more accessible.

"Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all"
- Yvon Chouinard

Food always tastes better straight from the earth.

Hiking is best in the morning, just before the sun rises.

Souvenirs should never be found in a souvenir shop.

The smells of lilacs, sawdust, fresh ground coffee, rain on a dirt road, climbing chalk, wood smoke and burning sweet grass are among the best.

All that I want from this life are the biggest laugh lines and the deepest smile wrinkles possible.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I was introduced to couchsurfing while backpacking and WWOOFing around Europe, summer 2012.
I have since hosted surfers in Missoula, and have surfed in a number of places around Italy. I'm happy to be a part of both the surfer and host community!

I have couchsurfed in.. .

Trani, Italy
Venice, Italy
Florence, Italy
Pisa, Italy

Interests

"Anyone who has stood upon a lofty summit and gazed over an inchoate tangle of deep canyons and cragged mountains, of sunlit lakelets and black expanses of forest, has become aware of a certain giddy sensation that there are no distances, no measures, simply unrelated matter rising and falling without any analogy to the banal geometry of breadth, thickness, and height."

- Bob Marshall

Climbing
Hiking
Biking
Gardening and permalculture
Art - especially botanical illustration
Cooking
You name it.. . I love new challenges!

• arts
• singing
• illustrations
• education
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• coffee
• gardening
• shopping
• drawing
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• rock climbing
• teaching
• forestry
• mountains

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States