CURRENT MISSION

To explore Europe, with only a vague plan! I go with the flow, I'm happy to end up in any cities, large or small, as long as there are great people, I am happy! I want to meet locals and feel the real culture, not just be a tourist!

ABOUT ME

Hey I'm a 22yr old from Sydney, I've recently finished a Bachelor of Arts and Science (Sociology Major), at Sydney University, and am now backpacking Europe for 7 months, partly with friends but mostly alone! I'm relaxed, kind, clean, friendly and always polite, so I'd be a great guest.

Wherever I travel I am very easygoing, I especially enjoy meeting locals, and getting an idea of the culture wherever I go, I think it's boring to just walk around taking pictures of the same statues and buildings everyone else does! I want to visit the art exhibitions, bars and all the places you would not know about unless you were a local!

I love to play music so if you don't mind I will often be playing around on my little Spanish travel guitar! I am a novice photographer, and I have been trying to learn how to use an old 35mm film camera, with mixed results! Most of all I just like meeting people, hanging out wherever it may be, and exploring places together!

PHILOSOPHY

My philosophy at the moment, as I am travelling for so long (7 months) in Europe, predominantly by myself, is to simply go with the flow. I aim to be happy-go-lucky, I have a vague plan for where I would like to go (Berlin and Eastern Europe in particular), but I am happy just ending up in places I have never thought to go.

Hamburg, Leipzig and Stuttgart are the last three places I have visited, couchsurfing there with some amazing people! Next I will likely pass through Strasbourg on my way to meet an old friend in Lyon; none of this was part of my 'vague' plan before I left Australia, but I am absolutely loving this kind of travelling, and it has completely openened my mind to the wealth of experiences that exist where you least expect them.

So, if I could sum up my philosophy, I want to share my life with people, and have them share their's with me, without any prejudices, I couldn't care less if you're a local student in first year university, or a Japanese musician working at a jam session in Leipzig, or if you're someones aunt, living in a tiny village near Stuttgart, raising a young boy... I don't mind where you come from, how rich or poor you are, or what you do for your livelihood, if you're open to experience and happy to just chat and enjoy the great varied nature of humanity, than I am happy to spend time with you! Of course, if you want to have a laugh over some drinks and go clubbing, I am also quite partial to that! ;) haha

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have only been a Couchsurfer since January 2014, but I have already had my mind changed about travel, I never realised that I would be able to stay with such great people! Now I realise that in the future, when I get settled in to a home again, I will always try my best to offer a place for the wonderful people I have met, and to set myself up to be a proper surfer host at some point!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Before this trip I had not done any couchsurfing, however, as of April, about three months into my trip, I have surfed with 5 different people, and it has been fantastic! I saw myself staying in far more hostels, however, now I have experienced the Couchsurfing ways, I am addicted! I love being able to really see the local culture, something I think you miss staying in hostels, I've made friends I will keep forever and I just appreciate the unusual places it has taken me (places I never planned to visit), and of course the money it has saved me!

Interests

I'm starting to get into film photography during my travels, so anyone into photography, I would love to chat with you/take some pics! My main passion is playing music, and I play guitar and a little piano, but I have been in bands before and am planning on starting my own after my travels! I studied Sociology at University, and am probably looking for opportunities to do postgraduate studies over in Europe, so any students/ex-students with knowledge about Universities over there would be awesome to talk to. Also very much into hearing about the social and cultural issues over there, my studies were focused on gender inequalities and problems with femininity and masculinity! I also have spent a lot of my younger years travelling with my Dad on Birdwatching trips, yes, we like to try and see as many of the wonderful bird species there are across the globe, but as such I am hugely intereste in wildlife as a whole, I love hiking and just generally enjoying nature, so I am happy wandering off in forest for hours seeing what's around!

• wildlife
• arts
• culture
• photography
• cooking
• drinking
• clubbing
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• piano
• hiking
• backpacking
• science
• sociology

Music, Movies, and Books

My favourite movies include (but are not limited to): Melancholia, In Bruges, Anchorman, Groundhog Day, The Shinging, Dark Knight Trilogy etc. I saw Her recently and that was very good!

I do enjoy reading a lot, I have read a lot of classics like 1984, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series, A Clockwerk Orange, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as Harry Potter, to name a few. I find though that I have little time to read whilst travelling unless I'm on a long train ride or something, but I was given some great books by an old Irish friend of mine in my English hometown, one of which was Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night, which I just read and thought was fantastic, I ended up leaving it with a Canadian girl in Hamburg! I have just been given The Life of Pi to read, so that will likely be next.

Ahhh Music, as a guitarist and pianist, who will be starting a band in Sydney when I return, you can probably tell I am very into music. I, like a lot of people my age, enjoy a huge variety of music, of all different genres. If I could pin down a few of my absolute favourite bands I would say, in no particular order, and forgetting way too many:

Queens of the Stone Age
Blur
Jeff Buckley
Silverchair
Arctic Monkeys
The Bloody Beetroots
The Cure
The Damned
Desert Sessions
Frank Sinatra
Gorillaz
Interpol
The Killers
M83
Metronomy
Muse
Nobuo Uematsu
Nirvana
Nouvelle Vague
Outkast
The Smashing Pumpkins
Talking Heads
Them Crooked Vultures
NIN
A Tribe Called Quest
The White Stripes

That's a few!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Ummm, well I am proud to say that I had slept on every continent in the world before age 21, including Antarctica! I suppose the 19-day voyage to Antarctica I did with my Dad, from the Southern tip of Argentina all the way to the Antarctic Peninsula, in 2011, was one of the most amazing and unique trips I have done! I consider myself very lucky to have been able to travel with my Mum, and especially my Dad, to so many amazing places around the world whilst I am still so young!

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a novice surfer, so I can't give much advice, but I would say that if you are unsure about trying couchsurfing, just give it a go! I never thought I would be brave enough to do it, but now I have, it has changed how I think about travelling!

Also, so far, I have found that it is only polite and fair to offer to share money for groceries wherever you stay, and to also try and cook and clean as much as you can, I am a barely competent chef, but I always try to cook for my host if they want me to! These tips are obvious though!

Countries I’ve Visited

Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France, Germany, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United Kingdom