My name is Anders Robertsson. I live on a nice old farm (not a working farm atm), in the middle of the forest, in the far western part of Sweden, in a small town called Töcksfors, very near the Norwegian border about 1,5 hour by car from Oslo, 1 hour from Karlstad and about 3 hours north of Gothenburg. This is probably a good place to stay the night and take a break if you are on a Nordic road trip, there are nice areas for hiking not far from here, but it's a little bit difficult to get around here without a car, allthough there is public transportation, it's not very frequent. I have a lake of my own where you can swim if the weather allows it. If you are bringing a kayak our canoe there are nice waterways to explore around here.

This area is almost entirely focused on shopping - Sweden is cheap compared to Norway so along the border some areas have become "border shopping"-areas, we have two big shopping malls, mainly catering for the Norwegian's needs wich means a lot of food, sweets and tobacco, but also some clothing and outlets, especially for sports, hiking equippment etc

I have degrees in geology and history of art, but ended up living and working as a builder/carpenter for 15 years, specializing in renovating old buildings with traditional methods. Recently though I have started a new career as a field coordinator for geological surveys.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I like meeting new people from all over the world and have travelled a lot. When travelling, I like to stay with people who are themselves living in the town we visit, it's a lot more interesting getting to know a place with the aid of somebody who truely knows it. I really like discovering places that are off the beaten track, and that tends to be easier if your host knows the area.

I live in a big house, lots of room and like to travel myself. I'd like to offer other people the opportunity to travel on a limited budget too.

I believe in exchanging favours, giving what you can, when you can and thereby building a sustainable world for everybody. I enjoy to have guests and I have lived in different kinds of communal livings so I am used to getting along with others and respecting their needs and habits.

Interests

I am interested in almost everything somebody else is passionate about, but my main interests are (no specific order): art, science, repairing mechanical things, cars, machines, tractors, architecture, rock climbing, hiking, skiing, discussing politics, sustainable economics/living, organic, entrepreneurialship etc

• arts
• culture
• architecture
• dining
• wine
• politics
• traveling
• cars
• hiking
• canoeing
• kayaking
• skiing
• sports
• rock climbing
• track and field
• business
• economics
• geology
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Electronic music from the 80ies (especially Depeche Mode), classic rock, classical music. Not very picky, I like things from most genres...

Books: Everything by Terry Pratchett, Simon Singh's books, Shogun, Robert A. Heinlein: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and other books, occasionally Dan Brown and such for easy reading.

Movies: I like watching movies from many genres, examples of movies I like are The God father, Dead Poets Society, Hero, Kieselowskie's trilogy, Bergman's The Seventh Seal, Zoolander, Dogma, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail, The meaning of life and Life of Brian.

Don't own a TV, but frequent Netflix regularly: Heroes, Sherlock, Dr Who, True Blood, Friends...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling New Zealand for 4 months, living in a car with my then wife to be

Teach, Learn, Share

I am interested in your local culture, local (organic) food, art and history etc.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can help fixing things, give advice on repairing stuff/your car.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, New Zealand