CURRENT MISSION

Recalibrating myself

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Years before I was even a member of CS I 'surfed' at people's places in Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Romania and Ukraine. I've stayed at many people's places in the former USSR, but some occasions stand out. I met one woman in 2001 on a train across the Urals in the Russian Arctic and 20 minutes later, on a ferry across the Ob river, she was inviting me to have tea with her family at their house, an old wooden cottage in a town in the tundra. I ended up living with them for 2 days.

A similar thing happened in Kiev a few years ago when I met a musician on a train 15 minutes before we arrived in Kiev and he took me off to stay with a friend of his.

Perhaps the most surreal experience was being invited to stay at a girl's flat in Omsk, Siberia, and ending up doing wallpapering in a friend's place!

There are whole groups of travelling artists and musicians in the former USSR who have their own 'couchsurfing' network based on address books.

As for official Couch Surfing, I've surfed from 2006 onwards, in Portugal, the Faroe Islands, Bosnia, London, Aberdeen, Manchester and Dublin. I've hosted in Granada in Spain and then in Oman. Previously I wasn't able to host in Petersburg but now it may be possible, depending on when you are here. Many of my hosts and guests have become good friends, and I look forward to many more rewarding experiences.

Interests

• books
• traveling
• music
• surfing

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Saw Eastern Europe in the late 90s before it became Westernised (and now I'm glad I did), drove alone from New York to Los Angeles through 19 different US states... did the 1200 km Pamir Highway in Tajikistan and along the Afghan border, took the Carretera Austral into the icefields in southern Chile then trekked 32 km through the Andes to Argentina... hitch-hiked around the Faroe Islands, drove across Oman and Armenia... I'm all about road trips, and the more unusual the better.

In 2001 I spent 2 months exploring remote parts of Siberia, and then travelled overland from Vladivostok to London! Been to a place in Siberia where I was the first ever foreigner. In 2009 I even lived in Siberia for 6 months. And much, much more.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Czech Republic, Finland, Oman, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom

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