CURRENT MISSION

Going through a very uncertain time in life (again). Travelling around from June to December 2019 to find a place to call home and restart 'real' life (you know, gotta make some money from time to time). Meeting other fellows in CS is always a great way to 'see the road with different eyes' so that my own do not forget the beauty out there.

Also - and always! - trying to avoid becoming just another part of this wheel designed to make you become a 'liquid': to adapt, to follow, and to flow. Zygmunt Bauman already explained it to us all. Fake velocity and fake connections... am i high? No, not at all.

ABOUT ME

Nature. Science. Music. People. Folklore.

Well... i changed paths in life quite a few times. Started working pretty early (around 14 back in 1987!) in my hometown in Brazil; around 19 moved to a nearby city for university; followed an academic career as a theoretical physicist for about 15 years, with part of Phd (1 year) in USA and full postdoc (5 years) in Canada.

When returning to Brazil in 2009 i was in enormous need of 'disappearing' and finally decided to hit the road. First for about 8 months all over Europe (From Portugal to Greece) and Middle East; then for other 8 months just inside the Brazilian 'continent'.

By 2011 i settled down in Florianópolis, found a research job in a private software company and quit academic life; over there i joined the active CS comunity, hosted a few travellers and for a period of time helped to organize the local CS weekly meetings. Then... after 5 years i quit it all again and hit the road once more, this time for about 20 months all over Latin America (except Brazil), from Mexico to Ushuaia.

And so we reached 2019...life is still open and uncertain.... And me on the road again but this time not exactly 'backpacking'; i am trying to stay longer in a place so that i can also focus on my own stuff. I initially spent 3 months in Braga, Portugal, 2 of them volunteering in the reception of a cool hostel (former an art gallery), then went to one of the Caminhos de Santiago, and once i had to leave the country i came to Bulgaria/Romania. Anyways the only certainity is that my savings would not last until the end of the year... so until there trying to figure out what to do for the next phase in life.

PHILOSOPHY

If you have been doing the same thing for many years, you have been doing something wrong. Life is more. Do not wait until you are 'old' to realize it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Since i am on the road now i cannot offer a couch, but hopefully soon i will. So... while trying to figure out 'what to do when i grow up' meeting other CS fellows for some nice conversation under coffee or beer is always a good thing to do. And... if you can host me that would be great! For the reasons mentioned above i am now also in 'volunteering mode' so in case you know of some please let me know!

Or if you wanna talk about quantum mechanics you are mostly welcomed... :) Mainly if you could magically teach me how to play an instrument (guitar?) in just a few days. :) Yeap, not playing any musical instrument is one of my biggest frustations. But that will change soon.

Note: against my will i became a 'verified' member for a while, but decided to quit it a few months ago. If this is important for you... sorry. I will not 'verify' again; this was not how CS started anyways.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I hosted a few travellers when i had settled down in a city and helped to organize some local CS events. Funny though that most of my backpacking time (more than 3 years by now) was mostly spent in hostels. I could write a book about every kind of hostel one may find out there!

Interests

All about NATURE; hikings, volcanos, mountains, beaches, dunes, forests, ...
All about LOCAL arts/culture scene; shows, theater, dance, music, folklore, ...
Of course History of the places i am staying. And last but not least to meet new people, new minds, hearts and souls from every possible corner of our small planet. To have a good time with them whenever it happens.

Music, Movies, and Books

No lists here.

I only mention that i am not much into pop music and comercial movies. To be a little more precise, my soul belongs to Heavy Metal. And i also love local traditional/folkloric music. But i am no fanatic, i am ok with any kind of real music played by real people with real instruments. :)

I adore good science fiction movies/books, and a lot of works which have been done with the motto that ours is a 'fake reality', controlled or manipulated by something/someone else; one could do a movie festival with such motto. I also enjoy many dramatic stuff where the focus goes like sudden changes in someone´s life as caused by internal or external reasons.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well well this sounds like a cliche but certainly some of the nature incursions were unforgetable. Smelling sulphur inside a vulcan crater in El Salvador/Nicarágua; hiking some of the Andes mountains in Peru/Equador; the (ridiculously expensive) Torres del Paine in Chile; knowing many off the beaten path places in North of Brazil like Amazon, Roraima, Amapá, Marajó.

Trying to get a glimpse of life/people of a part of Europe that i enjoy a lot: the Balkans. For some unknown reason as a kid i used to enjoy Iugoslavia. So when i was over all of its former member States plus Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, ... (and of course Turkey!), it was such a fantastic feeling. The History and culture of those places is so complex and unique.

The same applies to our Latin American identity. Spending months in countries like Mexico and Peru was trully unforgettable in every aspect. Our indigenous roots my oh my.

Teach, Learn, Share

Sharing experiences we made on the road, i mean, not necessarily physically on the road. We can always learn a lot if we pay attention to simple things and people in our everyday lifes; in the end, this is the 'road' that matters.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I think i´m an 'well-organized' guy, so your couch-home will be in perfect conditions once i leave your place! If needed, i can also help with simple house tasks. And of course i can share tons of stories from my backpacking trips in case you are planning to visit any of the countries i have been so far.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Norway, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States

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