Hi folks!
My name is Virginie - but you can call me Ginie - and I'm from Lyon, France. I am a curious, outgoing, open-minded, enthusiastic, passionate and creative person. Always up for a good chat, puns, fun facts about topics I didn't even know about, existential debates, discovering new artists and music genres, sunrises and sunsets, silly dance moves, karaoke sessions, or listening to this really epic anecdote you have about your last trip (I'll share mine in return).
Travelling for a year in New Zealand in 2022 was the start of something big for me. It changed my life, and shaped me the way I am and feel now. I'm so immensely grateful for it.
That's how I kept on travelling ever since, as part of a personal spiritual-psychological-physical quest, and I can't wait to meet you guys along the way!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I used Couchsurfing a lot during my travels, especially in NZ and Asia (however it was on another account, hence the fact I don't have many references here yet). I truly think that was always the best way to share meaningful experiences in all kinds of places, with people from super different backgrounds. That made me see the world with different eyes and a wider mindset for sure!
The connections that have resulted from these meetings significantly changed my life, and some of them will be cherished forever. Cannot be more grateful.

Interests

• wildlife
• arts
• culture
• photography
• traveling
• painting
• hiking
• psychology
• mountains
• boardgames
• birdwatching

Music, Movies, and Books

Music is honestly one of the best therapies that exists! (Also learned very recently that dancing is actually and scientifically one of the best tools to help fighting depression!!)
My playlists are super eclectic and can go from a genre to another really easily - mainly rock, electro, pop, experimental, trap, but also swing, pop, classical, funk, dubstep, reggae...
Among my all time favorites: Flume, Polo and Pan, U2, Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Tame Impala, Simple Minds, Justice, Imagine Dragons, Kasabian, etc.

I used to read bunches of books when I was younger, and I have been trying to get back to it when I started travelling in 2022.
Recently read the story of Cheryl Strayed, who shared her personal journey on the Pacific Crest Trail in the USA - could be a new challenge in the future, who knows?
Here are some of my favorite authors: Tamara McKinley, Mike Horn, Michel Bussi, Khaled Hosseini.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The year I spent in New Zealand, traveling the whole country and its most secluded areas in my beloved van (it was named Ralph and I miss him), learning new ways, meeting new people, discovering the amazing wildlife of Aotearoa and its breathtaking landscapes, hiking on an almost day-to-day basis, getting back to writing... and through all that, discovering what I truly yearned for, what mattered to me the most, what made sense to my eyes. It was a life-changing experience and this is unquestionably the thing that happened to be that I am the most grateful for. Will never be the same person after this.

Also, hitchhiking! Started easy with France, did it once in Thailand and ended up in the back of a truck for 2 hours, and then travelled all Taiwan only using my thumb for 2 months. Did the same in Japan for 3 weeks. Brought me many time to some of the best experiences ever, taking part into a Taiwanese tribal festival with traditional music and songs or being invited by a chef in one of his best restaurants.

The 6 weeks spent volunteering on this Cambodian remote island, which were probably the highlight of my last 10 months in Asia. Spent a month and a half not wearing shoes even once, bathing in the sea, dancing in the rain, showering with geckos, caterpillars, spiders, snakes, huge snails, or crabs. Meeting ones of the best people there, building my best memories, living like a island fairy.

Spent my 26th birthday stuck for an entire weekend in the garage of a tiny remote village in New Zealand.
Spent my 27th birthday celebrating it with a CS family in Bandung, Java, on the morning, then moved to Jakarta, bought a new camera after mine was lost in Melbourne few weeks before, then celebrated again in the capitale of Indonesia with another CS family.
Spent my 28th birthday in a Buddhist monastery in the mountains of North Thailand where I was meditating 8 hours per day and waking up every morning at 5am.
- Looking forward to seeing what the next one's gonna be like!

Travelled again in a campervan in Japan for almost 2 months; highly recommended as I was able to explore very remote/unknown places - so many pretty tiny fishermen villages. One day, was invited by a local couple to share diner at their place; ended up being offered the biggest amount of food of my life for three meals straight - diner, breakfast, lunch.
Not recommended: living a campervan experience in Japan in SUMMER (even more when you pick the "hottest summer they have seen for years"...). Now I know what it feels like being a chicken in an oven.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am super interested into anything that can teach me something new, no matter the subject. But I have to say I am very interested into psychology, sociology, arts, history, and anything that concerns nature/wildlife. I am super into creating new things - painting, crafting, drawing, writing - and also photography.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Beautiful, genuine, cheerful, spontaneous, fun, and above all open-minded moments. Walks, meaningful conversations and silly talks, sunrises and sunsets, debates, meals, board games (did someone say Catan?) or sport sessions. I'll share my most beautiful stories and my most sincere smiles, along with not-always-so-funny puns (my favorite).
I can cook, even though I'm not very talented, and I'll always be eager to help for anything, at home or anywhere else - please let me know if there's stuff that you kept on procrastinating on for months.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Italy, New Zealand