Finally back to hosting and using CS for travel.

I have lived in California my whole life and over 30 years on the Mendocino coast.

Our family consists of myself, my husband (Jess), and our son (Phin). We have a small farm and work to be more self sustaining...not so good at it as of late to prioritize travel. Our son, who has graduated high school and is now working as an Electrician and saving to travel and build a house on our property. He also plays the guitar and violin. We have animals here- chickens and currently 2 cat.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We all enjoy traveling and when we cannot, hosting people is a great alternative. We want to share our part of the world and hear about others.

For us, CS is about making connections and not just a "free" place to stay. That is why we host a minimum of 2 nights. Don't bother to request 1 night as we will no longer host that short.

CS is a great way to pick up tips on an area and meet people who live where you travel. We host as often as we can to build up CS karma points for when we travel, as well as meet travelers and exchange experiences and stories.

Interests

Our whole family enjoys the outdoors. We love to hike, camp, bike, kayak, garden, go to the beach, have fun and new adventures. We also enjoy just chilling out. Love cooking, baking and eating good food; laughing and playing cards/board games; and staying up late when the company is that good.

We enjoy great beer (lagers to stouts) and red wines. We like trying new foods. We have eaten blood sausage, squid ink risotto, bug tacos, goat, elk, woodpecker, emu, elk, camel, crocodile, kangaroo plus zebra and rabbit burgers. Had delicious horse cheese bruschetta in Italy at the International Street Food Fest. Hoping to try more unique food.

• culture
• architecture
• beer
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• foodie
• wine and cheese

Music, Movies, and Books

Autumn's
*Books- Most anything unless it is too dry or poorly written. I like the smell and feel of a real book, no tablets. The red tent, Poison wood bible, Steven king stuff, ShoGun, Tolkien, Game of Thrones books, Shardlake series.
*Music- most anything, limited rap and country as a preference.
*Movies- Comedies, Horror that is more on the thriller side, Mysteries, Drama, Foreign films, Tarantino films
*TV Shows- Northern Exposure, House, Broad City, Criminal minds, Z Nation, Shameless...US version.

Jess'
*Books- mostly sci-fi and fantasy but open to any genre. Some of my favorites are Dune, Stranger in a Strange land, Shogun, Hitchhikers guide, and anything by Isaac Asimov, new fan of Terry Pratchet
*Music- Classic rock, hard rock/heavy metal, but open to most world music.
*Movies- Comedies and action movies- The Jerk, Ideocracy, Hangover, The Big Lebowski, Reservoir dogs, Princess Bride, most Tarantino films
*TV Shows- How I meet your mother, Doc Martin, naked and afraid

Phin's
*Books- Maze runner series, Harry Potter, Tin-tin, Tolkien series, still exploring, not an avid reader.
*Music- Eclectic mix- Tech N9ne, Die Antwoord, Caravan Palace, Parov Stelar, Reggae, Rap, Rock, Dubstep, etc. Not so much country but appreciates almost anything else.
*Movies- Kung-fu Hustle, Howl's moving castle, Spirited away, Avatar, Alien, Mad Max OG, and Zombie movies
*TV Shows- Rick and Mortie, Wilfred, Family guy, Walking Dead

Family board games- Farkle, Rummy, Monopoly, Phase 10, Boggle, Catan, Cards against humanity- all 6 decks.....latest card game "El Presidente/Pendejo"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We all ziplined multiple runs in Mexico at Xplor and swam in beautiful cenotes. Really amazing for me as I am working on my fear of heights.

Ticking off more travel off our world map.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach- cooking, about small farms with chickens or gardening, new card games

Learn- up for learning new things- languages (especially common phrases) and about others travels and cultures, or cooking/food of the regions, information exchange is my jam

Share- We enjoy sharing a meal. We have fresh farm eggs and vegetables and always a pot of coffee in the morning. Happy to play board games or stay up chatting and sharing stories and philosophies.

We are happy to entertain when we can and show you around the coast. But we also don't mind if you want your own space. Clear communication is key!
But we do appreciate at least some bit of time to get to know our guests as we are on CS for cultural exchange. If you are planning on spending most of your stay on your cell or computer then we are not the place for you.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We are happy to help prep, cook, or clean up after meals. We enjoy playing board games or cards. We like sharing stories and having conversations on pretty much any topic. Even though we are not in our 20s we are not boring and seek new/unique adventures.

If you have a guitar or violin (or Phin brought his) he can play you a tune or teach you some basics.

Countries I’ve Visited

Denmark, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States