CURRENT MISSION

To go far

ABOUT ME

A restless soul and a geeky mind. I'm always curious, and I ask a lot of questions. I'm constantly trying to learn something new, so I read a lot, especially about history, politics, philosophy. And I get restless if I spend too long in one place.

Basically, I was just an ordinary kid from a small Finnish town who always felt that the place was too small. So I decided to go study abroad in London where I did my undergraduate degree in politics. I tried to grab every opportunity to have an adventure, so I spent one summer in India and an exchange year in Russia. So now I'm just an ordinary guy who's been lucky to spend the last few years doing what I love: meeting new people, learning new things, seeing new places.

PHILOSOPHY

A former Finnish president, Mauno Koivisto used to say: "If we don't know for certain how things will play out, let's assume that everything will turn out okay." That sense of perpetual optimism is something I try to hold on to.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I travel, I don't just want to see the sights but to get to know the people and the way of life where I go. That's why I like Couchsurfing and hopefully one day I have a place of my own where I would be able to return the favour to other travellers.

Interests

Photography, hitchhiking, music, society & politics, philosophy, films, music

• photography
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

When it comes to films and music, I'm pretty old fashioned with my taste. I like the classic rock, soul and jazz of the 60s and 70s. Bruce Springsteen is my all time favourite, but I also like a lot of the indie music of the 2000s like The National, Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, etc. The same applies to films. Stanley Kubrick and QuentinTarantino are my favourite directors, but there's a lot of great films made everywhere and every period. Of recent films, "Her" probably made the biggest impact on me in a while.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The biggest adventure of my life so far was a 5-week hitchhiking trip from Moscow to Beijing. You can check out a video of our trip here:

www.facebook.com/antti.viktor.rauhala/videos/10203292780640779/

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Russian Federation, United Kingdom