Born in London, I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I have been able to hold a pen. I have always thought that one cannot write with any truth without having knowledge of the world. Not just through books, but through living, "the university of life", as JG Ballard wrote.

Because of this, I love to immerse myself in places I do not know, learn and understand the cultures and the people I encounter - on a personal level - so that I can write about them with sincerity and affection.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm couchsurfing because I believe it is important to experience the world in different ways, and that it is better to see a place through the lens of a local.

Also, visiting cities as large as New York or Istanbul, one can feel lost. I have found that it is always more genuine and exciting being with someone who knows it well - but I don't mind getting lost in great cities! There's the French phrase of 'flâneur', which is to wander without purpose or direction and seeing what you discover - this is a way I love to live my life.

Interests

• arts
• culture
• literature
• poetry
• cooking
• yoga
• meditation
• traveling
• trekking
• conversation
• wild camping

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
Everything. Literature of the world, from South Americans like Julio Cortazar, Bolano, Borges, Juan Rulfo and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the Russian writers like Gogol, Pushkin Chekhov, Nabakov and Dostoevsky; Of North America, I love Saul Bellow, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag. I could go on for a long time. (Orwell, Huxley, Kawabata, Hemingway, Arundhati Roy, Rilke, Homer, Virgil, Chinua Achebe, Marlon James)
Poetry-wise, I am most influenced by Basho's haikus, Rumi's spiritual verse, William Blake, Allen Ginsberg and T.S. Eliot.

Films:
It would be another very long list, but I enjoy stories that speak of humanity and philosophy like both Bladerunner movies, Leon, 12 Angry Men. And documentaries like Paris is Burning.
I cannot get enough of The Lord of the Rings and I love directors like Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli), Ingmar Bergmann, David Lynch and Terry Gilliam.

Music:
Everything from Classical to the music of Mali, which is hard to describe, but look into singers such as Fatoumata Diawara and Ali Farke Toure and you'll understand if you haven't already heard them. With that, I also like spiritual music, so the Bahjans of India and Jamaican roots n reggae. Plus anything that can make me dance and smile, i.e. funk and soul ! (Also into a bit of electronic music: house, techno, drum n bass and all that)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 2018, after travelling India for 6 months, I went into Ladakh, a mountain-desert region in the Himalayas, where I trekked alone for 4 weeks. Apart from at the villages I passed through, I hardly saw anyone during that time. I slept in riverside caves, saw a stampeding herd of wild ibex, walked all the way to the Indo-Pakistani border and climbed a pass over 6000m high.

I feel ready for more adventure.

Teach, Learn, Share

Someone once told me:

"When you're talking, you're teaching. When you're listening, you're learning."

Therefore, the art of conversation is very important to me and feel it is how we enrich ourselves.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am passionate about learning anything I can, and about being a good guest. Therefore, I am very happy to assist with cooking (and cook for my hosts), cleaning or generally helping out around your home. I often house-sit in London, and so try my hardest to maintain a well-kept home.

Also, as a yoga teacher of five years, I would be very happy to offer some lessons in yoga and/or meditation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, India