My husband, Jedd, and I used to work in higher education, and left our jobs to volunteer with the Peace Corps (Jamaica '12-'14). Since then, we have been running our own web services business so we can work online as we live abroad in different places. We are currently celebrating our 10th year of marriage with a 10 Countries 10 Stories travel project (see http://intentionaltravelers.com/10for10-news for more details).

We both enjoy staying active, exercising daily, hiking, and balancing our explorations with working online as we travel. Jedd is the extrovert and a great cook, originally from Honolulu Hawaii. I (Michelle) am the introvert who loves planning our travels. I grew up in Oregon, studied abroad in France, Italy. We enjoy meeting people, exploring new places and cultures, simple living. We like to be rich in experiences while keeping our expenses low.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We prefer getting a local experience of life abroad, rather than checking off a list of attractions. On this trip we are particularly interested in interviewing locals about their lives and their place in the world for our "Global Neighbors Project." The goal is to help North Americans better understand other cultures and how we are linked to the rest of the world.

Interests

• fitness
• languages
• cultural immersion
• travel

Teach, Learn, Share

We like to do help exchanges where we can offer our website/online marketing skills, pet-sitting, or labor/painting/gardening in exchange for free room and board at different accommodations around the world. We want to eventually run our own guest house B&B where we can host international guests, so we love to see how other people manage their accommodations.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking, English practice, web advice, online content creation (for destinations/brands/orgs)

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ecuador, France, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Viet Nam