Hey there, I'm a Canadian/American who traveled the world as a hobo yoga instructor/massage therapist/English teacher for a few years, and then settled down in the Italian part of Switzerland because I fell in love with a Swiss man while teaching yoga in Guatemala.

It happens.

So I gave up my backpack and my life as a vagabond, learned Italian and went back to university to study social work. I'm about to finish my degree (fingers crossed), and then my husband (that aforementioned Swiss man) and I are planning to set off on a sabbatical year, part of which includes a several month bike trip. Because life is short and degrees are to have, not to use, right?

A bit more about us, I guess:

Me: I love to cook. So much that I constantly organise dinner parties and actually volunteer in nice restaurants, just so I can hang out in the kitchen and learn a trick or two. I also play the guitar (badly, but with passion), teach theatre (the first degree I hardly use), and am an avid watercolorist (if you can even put those two words together). I teach yoga, love to dance, and if I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be cheese. I am fairly active, love mountain hikes and have walked about 800 km of the Camino de Santiago. I bike around my city as a commuter and sometimes break out the mountain bike, but this sabbatical year will be a real challenge for me. But life is short. Fill it with challenges that make it feel longer.

That Swiss husband: Massimiliano/Massi/Max/Mess (oh the joys of having the world's longest name) is a passionate mountain biker, motorcyclist, eater of all the things I cook, engineer who fixes all of life's problems I can't seem to figure out (like properly loading the dishwasher), and perpetual jokester. He also loves mountains and hiking, but prefers sports that include at least the possibility of death or serious injury.

PHILOSOPHY

Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.

~Howard Thurman

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

~ Albert Einstein

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surfed and volunteered in Europe, Morocco, Mexico and Guatemala. I hosted in Colorado and Switzerland.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few times and have had marvelous guests. I've surfed a few times, and have been completely overwhelmed by the generosity and friendliness of the people I was fortunate enough to stay with.

Interessen

I love to write. Sometimes I feel like my heart is in my hands and I can only express myself honestly when I write.

Painting is meditation for me. I'm not particularly good, but turning on some music and painting from a picture or a model centers me, focuses me, grounds me.

I could spend the rest of my life reading books about the human mind and never be bored. I'm currently working in a psychiatric clinic and I love every moment of it.

Chocolate is good. Quite good. I do not dislike chocolate.

Cheese is better.

I love to teach yoga and practice massage therapy. I'm interested in anything that helps people feel better. Physically, emotionally, spiritually.

I'm a proper Colorado girl and love my mountains.

But cheese is still better.

• cats
• books
• acting
• cooking
• chocolate
• wine
• cheese
• coffee
• yoga
• running
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• hiking
• teaching
• philosophy
• psychology
• hitchhiking
• wild camping

Musik, Filme und Bücher

Music: Sufian Stevens, Sigur Ros, Damien Rice, Beruit, Regina Spektor, Roo Panes

Movie: Mary and Max, the Artist, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Wes Anderson, Cohen Brothers

Book: The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out His Window and Disappeared, Art and Fear, Man's Search for Meaning, Mindsight, Homo Sapiens, Homo Deus, anything and everything by Oscar Wilde, Martin McDonagh, and Sam Harris

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

Teaching yoga on the island of Vis for five weeks. And on Lake Atitlan for a seven months.

Training racehorses in Ireland. Training alpacas in Germany.

Making cheese with the local cheese woman in Italy.

Hitching through the Balkans (sometimes with the police). Hitching through Scotland with all manner of people. Hitching through Ireland when the buses were on strike. As they often are.

Flying in a private plane over the Atlas Mountains

Wild camping in Albania. Wild camping in Scotland.

Motorcycling around Sardinia

Roadtripping in Namibia

Lehren, lernen, teilen

I want to learn all the things. Just. All of them

Was ich mit Gastgebern teilen kann

I'd be happy to give yoga classes to anyone who'd like them! I'd love to prepare and share a meal or two. :) I can teach you a couple of card games and share some rather epic travel stories.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Wales

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Guatemala, Switzerland, United States

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