Hey there! My name is V and I'm a recent college graduate in Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz. My preferred gender pronouns are they, them, theirs and I ask that you kindly respect this. I'm proudly identified as queer, gender non-binary, and Filipinx. I love to bike, cook, read, play/listen to music, explore, have stimulating conversations, and drink lots of tea all day long. I really value friendliness and openness and always try to practice this. I'm forever on a quest to learn how to get free and live life in a way that enables my activism, social justice principles, art, and love for people and the land.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Three friends and I are embarking this fall on a fieldwork journey called the Radical Mapping Project. This September, we're leaving on three-month road trip around the US to visit spaces, activists, and organizations that participate in socially transformative work-- especially those centering LGBTQ+ folks and POC in their leadership. Through conducting interviews, blogging, and photo documentation our goal is to record the lives of activists today - their struggles, visions, needs, and victories. From worker-owned cafés to free schools, housing co-ops to feminist libraries, we are seeking out people and spaces that are facilitating new ways of connecting to each other and the earth that live out the values of sustainability, justice, and grassroots power.

We're deeply inspired by work being done in the U.S and the lives being lived, and want to interview radical people on how they got to where they are, the roadblocks and wins, and how they stay afloat emotionally and logistically. Through our documentation process we hope to connect nodes of organizing and subcultural havens to each other while educating those new to the scene on how to get involved.

A brief bit about us: Hannah, Madeleine, Naz, and myself are all recent college graduates - three of us from UC Santa Cruz and Hannah from The New School - with majors concerning social justice, and identifying as queer. Together we bring a love of camping, good food, music, organizing, and DIY/ cooperative living to this passion project.

We're all looking forward to connecting with folks on the road!

Interests

• arts
• folklore
• cooking
• gardening
• reading
• live music
• hiking
• swimming
• food
• social justice
• activism
• playing music
• exploring new places
• listening to music
• vegan cooking
• road biking
• drinking tea
• food justice

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States