Hi my name is Jo. I'm from the UK and currently live near Bury St. Esmunds! I have a wonderful fiancé and a gorgeous dog called Cali. My hobbies are travel, food & wine, keeping fit, walking with Cali dog and wildlife. I grew up in the Lake District in north west England, a beautiful area home to the highest mountains and largest lakes in England. It was here my love of nature and wildlife started. I went on to study Zoology at the University of Leeds and further developed my passion for wildlife and the natural world. I then moved on to Bristol (one of my favourite places in the UK!), and started a job helping to arrange trips for passionate travellers to wildlife conservation projects in Southern Africa. I love that part of the world and have visited a few times, Southern Africa definitely holds a special place in my heart, especially as my fiancé proposed on the Zambezi river! I'm currently travelling the world! I love travel, meeting new people, learning about different cultures and discovering new places. This is a trip of a lifetime for me that I’ve been saving up for in my previous job and planning in my head since I was at university! I’ve used many hotels and met lots of cool people during my couple of months in SE Asia, and as I’ve traveled I’ve heard great things about Couchsurfing - so I’m ready to join the CS community and make some new friends!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm currently travelling for 7 months and would like to connect with people on my trip. I always think you get that bit more out of a place when you get the insider tips and company from locals and other travellers. I hope it's a great way to network and make some new friends!

Interests

• dogs
• wildlife
• wine
• exercise
• running
• walking
• traveling
• socializing
• hiking
• food
• friends
• gym
• family
• making friends
• beautiful places

Music, Movies, and Books

I have quite a varied music taste! I love a bit of Brit pop, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Imagine Dragons, the Beatles, Queen, 90's bands like Greenday, but also love a bit of pop & cheese too! And Van Morrison.

Loved the Harry Potter books, the Big Cat Man, Elephant Whisperer, The Book Thief and fave has to be Shantaram!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling has given me the opportunity to do lots of amazing things; pluck up the bravery to do a gorge swing at Victoria Falls, sky dive over the Namibian desert, dive in the Great Barrier Reef, trek through the Cambodian jungle and live briefly in Berkeley, near San Francisco, to name a few.
But to list something a bit different, as part of my degree I had the opportunity to help in bat research. One summer this took me round several European countries over 6 weeks helping to catch and release bats, recording data and taking fur and wing samples for a post doc study! I stayed in some amazing places; one night that particularly stands out in my memory was a stay in a cabin in Latvia, catching bats into the evening, followed by a late night sauna sesh! My first taste of Eastern Europe.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love chatting about travelling, learning about other peoples passions and feeling inspired by their experiences. Good company over a couple of beers or glasses of wine, or a good brew (British for cup of tea!).
I have a passion for food - I can cook, although I’m certainly not the best in the world and nothing overly extravagant....
I love animals, if you have a dog I’d love to give it attention, cuddles and walkies! I really miss my Cali!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Wales, Zimbabwe