Karen

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Hiking, I want to complete at least 2 Great Walks while I am in New Zealand. I also love kayaking, paddle boarding, etc. I enjoy painting and yoga as well. I consider myself open to new opportunities.

Description

Since I was a little girl and traveling meant walking the downtown of a nearby rural town, I have loved it. Seeing a different way of life, even in the smallest ways, has been fascinating to me my whole life and when I was 9 years old and visited my great grandparents in Germany, I realized just how much. I saw people that were the exact same as me living lives that were so different and yet so similar to my own, it hit me that we are all so different but so many of us share the same hearts, the same desires, the same bonds. I am and have always been in love with history, my hometown in America is considered the birthplace of civil rights, it is a town with museums, historical buildings, and visible change. Growing up, my teacher mother encouraged learning in every aspect for me, working at a summer camp so that I would have opportunities to learn to kayak, to sail, to craft; she spent time bringing me to museums and buying me books after so I could learn even more. The idea that I can see change, see how the world I live in now was shaped, learn stories of those who lived in the same place hundreds of years ago is what has always drawn me to traveling. Traveling is a non stop way of learning for me, learning things I never knew there were to learn. After attending an academically rigorous school for the majority of my education, I will admit I burnt myself out. When I went to college that desire I have always had to learn was no longer there and I lost a huge part of myself, which is a major factor in why I did not finish my first year of college. After returning to my hometown, I spent a good bit of time wallowing and working nonstop, no longer interested in working to build an international business degree, seeing travel as a pipe dream for me at that point, not much caring to learn anything. Slowly, I started to love learning again albeit in completely different ways, taking pottery classes, attending exhibits with my grandmother, painting on my porch every morning before work, reading fictional books in a way I hadn't since I was 12 years old. I have fallen in love with learning again, and by extension travel. I no longer feel confined to the academic world to explore my desires although I am certain when I am done with my travels I will want to go back to that again. But once I realized I could travel and started traveling, I realized how much I had been limiting myself in what I thought was learning. That is what travel is to me, learning, opening myself to possibilities items that have never occurred to me, learning how others live and what shaped them. I am finding that I do not need to know what my passions are for the rest of my life, I just need to explore the passions I find right now. I feel that my purpose in life is to help others and right now I just need to enjoy the journey to discovering how I will do that, while spreading my light as best I can. I have a true passion for arts, even if I don't think myself particularly skilled.
I am motivated by learning and by seeing the impact of what my work and my kindness can do for others, this is something I hope to be able to bring to the table in any volunteer opportunities I am able to get.

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I am interested in teaching English, as a tutor I have worked on the finer grammatical aspects of the English language and consider myself highly proficient at developing reading skills. However, I have only worked with children for whom English is their first language. I also wish to learn Spanish, growing up with a best friend whose family spoke Spanish exclusively, I have picked up on things over the years but it is a skill I unfortunately have yet to truly develop, as I took Latin in school.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Eco Projects

Charity Work

DIY and building projects

Languages

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Being an elderly companion

Animal Care

Art Projects

Hospitality/Tourism

Helping with Computers/ Internet

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Able to teach about:  

Babysitting and creative play

Helping around the house

Teaching

More details about your skills

I have worked a good variety of jobs my whole life. My most recent work lies in social media management, creating content and videos for a high end retail location. I also worked as a salesperson and consider myself to be very skilled in customer service/ interpersonal relationships.
For the past 4 years I have run my own babysitting and pet sitting service. I work closely on a consistent basis with the same clients. In my child care duties, this includes working on homework, dealing with bath and bedtime, infant care, and creating games. My steadiest client is a family with 3 children all under 4 years old, I have made an active effort to engage with them and reduce screen usage as much as possible with them. As a pet sitter, I try to engage in exercise for a minimum of 2 hours per day with the dogs I care for.
I am also a volunteer tutor in a one on one mentorship program with New Beginnings, which works with impoverished children. This is a biweekly duty that includes cultivating arts and sports with academic learning. As I have also worked at the Kumon Learning Center in the past, I do consider myself a highly proficient tutor, knowing I have watched grades completely turn around.
Furthermore, as a lifeguard since the age of 15 years old (no longer certified as of 2022) I have worked as a camp counselor for the Girl Scouts of America for several years. Being a counselor is very fulfilling work for me, especially when teaching swim lessons to young girls. So while I am no longer certified, I am skilled in swim instruction even with large groups.

I have worked on a community garden for the past 3 years as a passion project with my mother and have learned so much. These duties have for the most part consisted of planting, weeding, and watering. This is a skill I want to develop more for myself as I truly do enjoy it.
I have also worked as a hostess and food runner at El Rey Burrito Lounge, where my duties consisted of food preparation, customer relations, and general food service.
Lastly, while it is not necessarily a skill for me at this point, I highly enjoy painting and have worked with acrylics and recently watercolor painting. This is a skill I truly would love to develop further.
While my hands have been in many different pots, I have the desire to learn more and develop more skills and consider myself very open to learning.

Age

21

What else ...

I am a huge lover of yoga, I consider it an absolute game changer for my mental health. I find it to be incredibly empowering for me and also for my mother. In fact, I have struggled with my mental health for several years, I have found an outlet in journaling, painting, self defense classes, and yoga. I would generally consider myself a home body, preferring to spend time with my family playing card games like Canasta or playing scrabble. I am also reader, currently on a 64 week streak of reading a book every single day.

Environmentalism and community outreach are also very important to me. Supporting small business, working to clean local parks, and spending time helping young children are all things I consider impactful and necessary for me to feel fulfilled. I want to learn more about what I can do to help the planet and learn different skills to help with that.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements