CURRENT MISSION

travel well...

ABOUT ME

Born in Minck, Belarus during the turbulent times of the USSR. My family and I got out just before the big collapse and moved to Isreal.

We are not jewish, but we faked that we were to get out. Lots of former USSR inhabitants did back in those days. The ultimate goal....America (or Canada).

I spent 3 years on the Mediterrainien coast (during Desert Strom), where I first went to school. My teachers were impressed that I was doing better than locals at it, I doubt the locals children were as impressed.

The next move came when my family packed up our stuff and took a plane in the middle of the night. Don't think this was like in the movies, we weren't being chased or anything, the flight just left at that time.
Landing in New York, a very nice family (possibly relatives?) helped us out and we stayed with them for a little while. Then we were off to Chicago, where my moms childhood friend lived.

Settling in a suburb, normal life seemed to occur. Little did I know that the final destination was actually Toronto, Canada. However, when my family packed up and moved again, I was not as surprised as before. We finally settled in a small town 45km west of Toronto and we have not moved away yet, and my parents don't plan to. I have bought my own apartment about 5km away from my parents house, but who knows where I will end up.

Anyway, the point of that story is that I am very used to travelling, and moving around. I have never lived in one house for more than 5 years. (even in Canada, we moved from place to place).

I'm an easygoing guy, I like to find fun in anything I do, even if its something boring.
I like to laugh and make other laugh as well.
But to really get to know me you need to talk to me directly.

I have already written too much suff and anyone that is reading this has probably stopped paying attention so I will stop. Direct contact is the best way to truely get to know me.

I like to see where a conversation goes and go with it.

PHILOSOPHY

No regrets.

Take the path less traveled.

Never stop exploring.

Celebrate the everydays with close friends.
Celebrate extra-ordinary days with new friends.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Beer in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!!"

Work to live, don't live to work.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I want to meet a lot of fun people so we can share our expriences about life and learn something new about this planet we call home.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I first ventured to Europe in the summer of 2007. My girlfriend and I went to Prague. I did know about the wonderful couchsurfing project then, so we had to live in an apartment that was formerly a US embassy (I know, poor me). Prague was fantastic, but I didn't really do any non-tourist stuff. This was when I got hooked on travelling and knew that all my money would go towards it.

I began thinking of my second trip to europe when I joined CS. A friend (Jacqueline Lim) had told me about it and I decided to check it out. I also decided that I didn't want to go to a popular place where lots of tourists go (no France, Italy, Spain or anything like that) I picked Iceland. I did some couch searches and managed to find a host for my trip. That trip turned out to be like no other trip I have ever done in my life. Thank you so much Sigrun for hosting me! That's what hooked on CouchSurfing.

The the begining of 2009 in Helsinki, Finland! Although I was unable to find a couch to surf, I still managed to meet some people I had talked on the site and party with them. Helsinki was a great time thanks to Krista and Dima. Thanks guys! That's what got me hooked on CS even more and I knew that I would never celebrate a new years (and my birthday by default) in Canada again. I'm also lucky to have my birthday in July, so I can always afford to have travel money. Unless I get laid off.

Summer 2009: spent one night at Audur's place. As always, Reykjavik got the better of me and I went to bed really late, probably 8am or something. Good times.

Following my second trip to Iceland in 2009 I went to sweden. There I stayed in Helsingborg, Malmo and Goteborg.
In Helsinborg, Johan was kind enough to loan me the guest room at his building and that was great because I could come and go as I pleased.
Paula let me stay at her place in Malmo. Although I only actually slept there my first night and for a few hours when I took a nap. Instead I just stayed awake all night partying. Finally, I stayed with Stofer in Goteborg. He let me crash on his couch for one night and that was good times as well.

Following that I took the ferry to Aalborg. There Inga let me surf her couch for 4 days! It was a great time and I thank her for showing me all the sights and sounds of Aalborg.

Finally, my summer 2009 trip ended with Klaus. What a great dude. We partied hard the first night. Then he showed me some off-the-beaten-path parts of Copenhagen. That was followed by partying again. Great times!

Rung in 2010 in Roma, Italia. Met Hannah and many other people, most not Italian. Good times.

June 2010: I travelled with Karl for 2 weeks in Slovakia. It was amazing. The people are incredibly friendly and hostpitable. The mountains are beautiful and the beer is delicious. Thanks to all my hosts that made the trip unforgetable.

July 2010: When with Jacqueline and two others to Chicago for the long weekend. Met Andre, it was epic. Will definitely return soon!

March 2011: Sent to Phoenix, Arizona on business. I met up with a group of CSers and had a great time, then I met up with them again the next weekend for another great time. I also worked during the week.

August 2011: Kristof, Barbara and another Barbara hosted me when I traveled in Slovenija for one week. It was a great time!

Couchcrash Chicago 2011: bought a ticket to Chicago for labor day weekend without knowing that is was going to be Couchcrash weekend. It was amazing!!

One week after Chicago Courchrash 2011: Hosted Kean and Chris, two guys from BC that I met in Chicago during couchrash. It was my first hosting experience and it was great. Hope more people will come by soon.

February 2012: Japan. Was hosted by Junsei, Kaccey, and Alain. It was the most amazing trip I have ever taken and I will surely return to Japan!

March - Oct. 2012: I lived in Sudbury, ON on a work assignment and although I didn't meet up with any CSers, it was one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I will forever be in debt to everyone that I met.

Sept. 2013 - Chicago CouchCrash 2013: met up with old friends and met up with new friends. Surfed Kira's couch. An epic weekend.

August 2013 - hosted Sarina for one week while she got organized for her return flight back to China.

Sept. 2013 - Hosted Thomas, Fritjof and Sean. All at different times, but it seemed like there was someone at my place every night. Great times.

Nov. 2013 - A 3,000km road trip from Regina, Saskatchewan to Oakville, Ontario with my best friend Jacqueline. Stayed with Dusty and Christine. Although it was winter and I had just lost my job. Those people made it a fun trip.

April 2014 - A 2400 mile road trip from Oakville to Mesa with my best friend Jacqueline. This time it was to start a new job and life in Arizona. I got to stay with Hether (K-zoo), Sydney (Iowa City) and Natalie and Vince (Kearney). Kearney, Nebraska was a very interesting highlight of that trip.

Interests

Football/soccer, ultimate frisbee, tennis, volleyball, hiking, cycling, climbing, generally being outside on a nice day. Anything involving running, except jogging, ironically. Does drinking beer count as a sport? You have to exercise your arm when you lift the glass/bottle.
Playing guitar, listening to music, writing music if I feel like it.
Photography - Landscapes/buildings. I think I have a knack for taking a good photo and it's fun.
Cooking - I love to experiment and create recipes on the spot. Mostly with an asian theme, however, I am willing to try everything. Except baking, I don't bake.

• writing
• books
• photography
• make up
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• chocolate
• beer
• baking
• exercise
• running
• partying
• drinking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• cycling
• hiking
• sports
• rock climbing
• soccer
• tennis
• volleyball
• business
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Alt rock, old school hip hop, classic rock, 80s, all types of music interest me.
I also taught myself to play guitar, saxophone, clarinet, piano and harmonica.

Movies: Tarantino is always good but I like anything that will make you think, dark comedies and of course the classics: Casablanca, Citizen Kane, etc.

Books: Erich Maria Remarque, Arthur Hailey, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Françoise Sagan, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carol, Chuck Palahnuik.

TV: American dad, Futurama, The Simpsons, Black Books, The PJs, Californication, Firefly, South Park, the IT crowd, cougar town, how I met your mother, it's always sunny in philadelphia, blackadder

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Climbing to the top of Hekla (Iceland) with the rotten shark mafia. Great adventure! Only took four hours.

The Conference of Metallurgists 2009, being in the same room as the people that wrote the metallurgy books I read while in University. There's something humbling about being in a room with 500+ years of Metallurgy experience.

The second night in Stara L'ubovna, Slovakia. Most of the people in this small town knew Karl and I by name by the second night. Incredible.

The sound that Serrano Glacier made as it cracked. Bernando O'Higgins Nation Park in Chilean Patagonia.

Climbing the top of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. It was terrifying, but so awesome!

Teach, Learn, Share

I'll just use this section for dislikes.
1) People that pass you on the street and then walk more slowly than you! Same with drivers.
2) People that squeeze toothpaste out of the middle of the tube
3) People that say they will come out and party but then don't show up and make up a phony excuse like "I'm tired"
4) Slow internet connections
5) Paying too much for mobile phone service
6) Crappy public transit service that costs too much.
7) Places that charge for WiFi
8) Plastic food wrap - my nemesis.

Teach: I probably know a lot of stuff that most people don't, let's get together and see what we come up with. And guitar.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belarus, Canada, Israel, United States

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