Hey there, everyone!

I'm André, 24 years old, from a small town called Vila Real de Santo António, in southern Portugal. I am currently living in Amstelveen, 15 min away from Amsterdam city centre. I absolutely love travelling, meeting new people, discovering new places and learning about different cultures. I became passionate about travelling after my first solo travel in 2014, to Amsterdam.

Since then, I have always had this dream about living outside of Portugal (I love my country, but the World is filled with so many amazing sites it would be a shame to get stuck in one place for the rest of our lives). Therefore, I decided to move to London in 2015 to start my Bachelor's Degree in Sport Science.
After such a big change, I had the pleasure to live in the Gold Coast (Australia) for 8 months, as part of an exchange programme, and it completely changed my life. I have been to places I thought I could only dream about visiting when I was a kid. It's very hard to save up and travel, but it is worth every single cent.

I have grown to be this happy, positive person. I am calm (not at airports, though...), easy going and open minded. I don't believe in judging others before getting to know them - everyone has a story, so let's hear about it first :)
I LOVE being outdoors. Running is my absolute favorite sport, but I'm always up for walking/hiking, cycling, or any other sports. Winter and Spring are my favorite seasons (actually, all my past travels took place during Winter time). The first time I witnessed a snow fall was in Stockholm/2015 and the first time I left Europe was on the 31st of August of 2016, when I arrived in Australia.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet new people and increase my network of international friends! To get to know more about other countries, cultures and ways of living. To learn, to teach. To inspire and be inspired.

Interests

Running and other sports. Reading (but free time isn't really my thing, unfortunately). Music, but I don't play any instrument! Traveling (you didn't see this one coming, did you?). Amateur photography. Cooking, specailly when I have the time to cook something fancy or more elaborated. And so many other things! Ask me, and I'll tell you. :)

• cooking
• reading
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• backpacking
• sports
• solo travel

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stockholm and Tromsø in February/2015 - dog sledding, hiking mountains with low temperatures and went on a hunt for the Northern Lights. Lifechanging.

Moving to and living in Australia. Overall, the most amazing thing I've EVER done.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, England, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, England, Netherlands, Portugal