Hello all the lovely people around the world,
I am Avadhoot, from Pune, India, currently residing in Darmstadt, Germany. I moved to Germany for my master's degree in 2018 and currently work here as an industrial engineer.

I didn't travel as much in India as I would've liked to, but being a reader, I did fell in love with a lot of places through the medium of books and novels. I got to travel a lot after coming to Europe, and just fell in love with travelling, and getting to know different cultures and photography.

Being more on the introvert side, I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone, so here I am to connect with people who have stories to tell and experiences to share. I did hesitate to reach out to people initially but very soon realized how much kind people are and how much open they are to share their stories and listen to yours. Talking to people from diverse backgrounds, learning about their culture, trying out different cuisines has opened my mind to new experiences and also helped me understand people and cultures much better beyond the stereotypes.

I love hosting people and cooking food. At the moment, as I live in a tiny studio apartment, I don't really host, but really looking forward to getting a bigger apartment and return the kindness I've experienced so far on this platform.

Interests

I love travelling and photography (these two go hand in hand I believe). Germany has quite a lot nice hiking trails and thanks to my semester ticket that I got to visit a lot of places and go on hikes in NRW. My absolute pleasure in the hikes is when I come across some spring and I just sit there listening to the sound of flowing water. It feels tranquil and therapeutic. 🌊

I do love reading too. In non fiction, I recommend Factfulness by Hans Rosling to everyone I meet. I love to read about history and I'm fascinated by future of space travel, I find it damn cool that the interplanetary travel which was a distant dream for humanity few years ago seems very likely now and I'll get to witness it in my lifetime. I like to lose myself in some fictional world from time to time. Currently reading The Clockmaker's Daughter, a historical fiction/murder mystery and absolutely loving it so far.

Not necessarily a hobby, but I love trying different coffee and teas. Intending to build a coffee/tea station in my studio apartment soon. 🍵☕

• photography
• cooking
• coffee
• baking
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• tea

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
Voice of the moon by Anoushka Shankar (Indian Classical Music).
Just close your eyes, put your headphones on full volume and immerse yourself in the classical instrument of sitar.

Books:
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilberth Jr.
Steve Jobs said in his Stanford speech that you can't connect the dots looking forward but you can only connect the dots looking backwards. Many a times we have no idea what we are doing in the present has far reaching consequences or benefits in the future. I read this book as a child, which has funny anecdotes of a family with 12 children. It narrates how the father of these children used to experiment with saving time in different day to day tasks and somehow after reading the books, it impacted my behavior as well. The father in this book was a renowned industrial engineer who invented TIME STUDY, a method used to optimize processes (which I had no idea of when I read the book), and now I am also working in making processes faster and optimised as an industrial engineer.

Movies:
Peaceful Warrior
This movie taught me how challeging life experiences can be used as an opportunity for growth. It stresses on the significance of living in the moment and overcoming fears.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

> Helped my friend setup a free library in the village I come from. I try to curate a monthly list for books to add in that library. A lot of my values come from reading and I feel even if you don't have the privilege to travel, you can experience the world at your fingertips through reading and I genuinely belive books can alter the course of our lives.

Teach, Learn, Share

Having moved cities/countries for education and work, I have my fair share of unique and somewhat interesting experiences. The more you learn, the more you realise how much things are out there still to explore. So would love hearing different perspectives on life.

What I Can Share with Hosts

> I love mobile photography. Would love to show you some of my travel diaries and give you some tips and tricks about phone photography.

> I love cooking. I can share some easy to make and delicious Indian food recipes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, India