CURRENT MISSION

Recent empty nester who recently moved across the country from Boston, MA to San Diego, CA. After 30 years of complaining about the weather and provincial nature of the East Coast, I finally feel like I have found my place. My goal is to make new friends on the left coast, travel as much as possible, and host interesting people when I happen to be home.

ABOUT ME
My friends think I am crazy for couch surfing, both as surfer and host. I think they are missing out. My couch surfing experiences in other places have been my best travel adventures. And I have met some truly amazing people as a host...astronomers, theoretical mathematicians, students, and world frisbee champions. I have also hosted through Rotary Club business and student exchanges.

Friends say I am flexible and spontaneous and up for anything. I absolutely love seeing and doing things I have never done before and am on a constant search for these experiences. I am also really, really nice (too nice, most likely) and have an astounding array of experiences beyond travel.

For work I do strategy consulting and am the Executive Director of a non-profit group dedicated to the field of systems thinking.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Prior to couchsurfing, hosted foreign exchange students (Venezuela) and Rotary Adult exchanges (Turkey, United Kingdom). Loved those experiences and thought it would be great to do more of it.

I am now fairly experienced with four hosts in Florida, one in Paris, and two in the Netherlands. Each one has been amazing. I am also now getting a large number of requests (I suppose because I try to keep my response rate high( despite being fairly far outside of Boston). I enjoy these the most when they overlap with when I have my kids with me and there is an opportunity to show people around the great city of Boston.

Interests

Photography, Architecture, Gardening, Reading, Home Renovation, Interior Design, Science, Soccer, Swimming, Volleyball, Geneaology, Organizing, Systems Thinking, Computer Simulation, and pretty much anything untried.

• animals
• pets
• architecture
• photography
• education
• gardening
• reading
• traveling
• snorkeling
• soccer
• volleyball
• swimming
• business
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Set it to a pop station and leave it, but enjoy a variety of genres.
Movies: Romantic Comedies with Happy Endings, Action flicks (particularly with strong female lead), and Sci Fi.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Driven a steam roller, built and raced in a concrete canoe, auditioned for The Apprentice, ate steak tartare in Nigeria, swam in an underground river with six foot eels in New Zealand, pet stingrays while snorkeling in Grand Cayman, climbed waterfalls in Ecuador, wind surfed in Bonaire, and looked a gorilla in the face in the wild from one foot away. So many amazing things left to do.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to cook and organize and decorate...I have been known to rearrange people's furniture or cabinets when I wake up before them. They usually keep it that way - and not just because they are too lazy to move it back.
Happy to talk shop...entrepreneurship....real estate...finance...systems thinking...system dynamics simulation...or to probe deeply about what you are into..

What I Can Share with Hosts

Happy to share anything I have to offer. Some possibilities...photos, my Swedish pancake recipe (I am not Swedish), organizing and interior decorating skills, extra hands for cooking, time and participation in any activity, a meal.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin (French part), Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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