CURRENT MISSION

To see more of the big, wild world!

ABOUT ME

I'm an art teacher in Izmir, where I live with my husband, Dave. These days, I enjoy spending my time traveling to the many beautiful locales around Turkey and Europe, making art, playing a little music, weightlifting, cycling, and loving on our great network of ex-pat and Turkish friends.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love to get to know new people in new cities, to exchange travel stories, and helping out newcomers to a city. As a guest, I try to keep my area tidy and help out by doing dishes

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm new to Couchsurfing.org, but I've had lots of experience staying on couches, camping in yards, and other creative traveling experiences, both as a host and a guest. When I lived in upstate NY, my husband and I lived in a big ol' house with 7 adults, 1 baby, 3 cats, and 10 chickens, so we're well-acquainted with both sharing our spare and hosting all sorts of interesting people.

One of my favorite exchanges occurred while Dave and I journeyed 1365km on bicycle with our friends from Berlin to Paris. It took us about 3 weeks. On our last day of bicycling in France, our GPS had stopped working, the trail we were following ended, we didn't have a map for the area we were in, we were out of water, and we didn't have a clue where we would camp for the night.

We met an older gentleman in the village and asked if he could kindly fill up out water bottles. After assessing our situation, he invited us to camp in his backyard, just up the hill. We set up our tents under the yellow plum tree, then they invited us to eat with them on their patio. We conversed with them for hours in our terrible French, which they tolerated so patiently. In the morning, they treated us to croissants, jams, and great steaming bowls of cafe au lait. I will never forget how moved I was by their spontaneous generosity and kindness.

Interests

Travel, drawing, painting, music, weightlifting, cycling, cooking, eating well, exploring our city and the areas around it!

• cats
• chickens
• arts
• cooking
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• music
• cycling
• camping
• teaching