I’m a 30 year-old Polish that spent most of her adult life in the UK, studying and working there. Long story short, by a few coincidences and covid situation I ended up back in Poland just before pandemic kicked, and I’m still trying to get used to it

After coming to my hometown for holidays in 2019 I almost became a potato geneticist (no joke) but ditched it for working on environmental projects with local communities. In January I moved from Baltic seaside to rural region of central Poland (70 kms from Warsaw) for a NGO job and I love it here. I coordinate projects that are focused on environmental education and organic farming training for people that wanna start growing their own food in healthy way- for themselves and of course for the planet. My office is on the farm that also produces bread, milk and Swiss style cheese. On top of that I’m tutoring students and teach intro to Plant Genetics and permaculture from time to time, plus learning farming myself after hours.

Leaving London for Poland definitely left me missing the Arts and culture so even though I love the countryside, I go to gigs, art galleries and shows as often as I can when I’m in the capital. I’m also interested in traditional crafts-weaving and clay work are the two that I’m focusing on right now.

I travel when I can- for work and pleasure, picking trains over planes as often as possible, updating this info while on train to Vienna to catch an overnight train to Italy, then heading for Denmark afterwards. It started with a bet three years ago, that I can get to Poland from London without flying- my conscience was itching more and more as I had been gradually heading towards greener choices, going vegan (that actually happened because of my cat), less waste and not buying anything new for last few years. And here I am on yet another train.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I started 10 years ago as a surfer. After my first experience I thought this was the way of travelling and experiencing the countries I visit. Then I decided to host others so when I cannot see the World, the World comes to me and my house in form of CSers. I used to host frequently in Wales and London, rural Poland is not the most attractive travel destination but if you ever wanna spend a few days on organic farm with cows, goats and surrounded by forests and plains you are most certainly welcome.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

hosting and surfing since 2012.

Interests

Wildlife, Nature, Literature, Music, Folklore, Science, Cinema, Sport (cycling, fencing, handball, swimming), Medicine (especially Psychiatry), Psychology, Politics, Volunteering, board games, Arts in general.

• wildlife
• arts
• literature
• folklore
• organic food
• politics
• board games
• minimalism
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• fencing
• handball
• biology
• medicine
• psychology
• religion
• science
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• cinema
• nature
• permaculture
• farming
• veganism
• cultural heritage
• evolution
• zero waste
• plant based food

Music, Movies, and Books

Books- modern Belles-lettres, science books and journals, reportages and classic literature. Recently I started reading books about running companies and marketing to develop some new work projects but it’s not really my go-to read, though to my surprise I’m actually enjoying a completely new type of reading experience that it provides.

Music - Roy Orbison over Elvis Presley. George Harrison over John Lennon. Classical music over jazz (unless we talk Latin jazz Tito Puente timbales). Classic rock, cheesy pop (going to Backstreet Boys gig this autumn and I’m not even sorry) Balkan brass and folk. Fleetwood Mac and Beirut are my bands of the bands. I like electro swing (Parov Stelar, Caravan Palace and Gramatik) and Polish indie. Blues, especially harmonica blues.

Movies - The Prince Charles Cinema (the best independent cinema in London) used to be one of the places to spend my free time at. Tommy Wiseau's poster is the only poster I have hung on the wall, he's one of few Polish guys that made it to Hollywood, although he thinks we don't know it. Balkan movies, Polish dramas and Scandinavian films, Krzysztof Kieślowski is one of my favourite directors. The IT Crowd, the Office (US), Parks and Rec are the funny ones, and all time classic Malcolm in the Middle, Louis Theroux for documentaries.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I made a carpet and I’m proud of it. Also, I rescued a dog from certain death this spring and well, his name is Lesio and I guess I have a dog now too.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love hearing new ideas and visions, I love having conversations and listening to people and hearing their perspective so I cannot wait to learn from such encounters. Although I set my priorities on environmental issues, I am eager to learn new stuff from any areas, maybe not investment banking or cryptocurrencies, but anything else- I am your (wo)man.

I am a person that rarely masters something and am happy with acquiring loads of skills at intermediate level and go on with new stuff when I acquired new skill that let me do something specific on my own. I can show you basics of weaving that can be useful in mending clothes- like holes in socks, cook some vegan dishes that I enjoy or talk about farming and Genetics, help you with train travel around Europe and I guess a few more things.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories, random skill set, vegan cooking and basic going-green tips and couch in Poland.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Palestine, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, Poland, United Kingdom