CURRENT MISSION

To Love the Unknown

ABOUT ME

Ahoy there!

I'm Andrew, a Fulbright Researcher formerly based in Kolkata India. I'm writing a book on the first newspaper founded in Asia--Hicky's Bengal Gazette -- and working with a professor to crack some 18th century "secret code". (I'm like the peon getting the code rather than breaking it.) I used to work at an adventure travel company in Sri Lanka where we ran white water rafting, abseiling, and kayaking programs. I've spent a lot of time living abroad and would love to share experiences.

Too much time in dusty, infernally hot Indian government archives started to make me go crazy, so at the end of my research, my girlfriend and I decided to travel in SE Asia. Now's it's back to research in Europe.

I like to cook so if you host me I can make some of my favorite dishes, like pumpkin curry.

Check out my website for more about my work: andrewotis.com

PHILOSOPHY

You never die and you never grow old.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I try to host couchsurfers wherever I am. I've hosted and surfed a lot, both on and off couchsurfing, and I always think it's

For the last year, we've had many couchsurfers come through, both people from India and foreigners. It was a sanctuary from the hustle of Kolkata, Hosting was one of the joys of living here.

Hosted and surfed many times, for 6 years, mostly in India and Sri Lanka.

Interests

Interested in all things challenging and interesting. Old newspapers. History. Love newspapers, traveling, a good beer, running, and squash, tea, Random facts of little historical significance. The outdoors. Googling anything that might be important and getting distracted reading things that are not important.

• writing
• books
• cooking
• beer
• running
• reading
• traveling
• coding
• outdoor activities
• kayaking
• racquetball
• teaching
• history
• adventure travel
• squash

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Italy, Laos, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka

•