"He who is hated by the people as a wolf is hated by the dogs... Genuine- that is what I call him who goes into God's forsaken deserts and has broken his venerating heart. In yellow sand and burned by sun, perhaps he blinks thirstily at the springs where living creatures relax beneath shady trees, but his thirst does not persuade him to become like these comfortable creatures."

Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

“In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Interests

Hiking, camping, anything around a camp fire, playing ball hockey and unregulated pond hockey.

Music, Movies, and Books

Pearl Jam, Temper Trap, Niel Young, etc

I love reading. Here is a short list of a few books that have influence my thinking:
*Brave New World by Aldous Huxely
*Anything Nassim Taleb writes (Anti-Fragile, Skin in the game, Back Swan, etc)
*Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
*How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan
*The Silk Roads: a new history of the world. by Peter Frankopan
*Stalin: The First in depth Biography.
By Edvard Radzinsky
*Mean Genes: From sex to money to food. By Jay Phelan and Terry Burnham.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hard to name just one, here is a list of a few dandies.
-Hitch-hiked into the Arctic circle
-Climbed the highest mountain in S.Korea in a blizzard
-Ate skewered scorpion in Beijing
-Ate fresh whale in The Faroe Islands
-Robbed by monkeys twice and Ethiopian children once
-Claimed and named a small island off of the coast of Sri Lanka
-Tried Khat in Ethiopia
-Tried Kava in Fiji
-36 hour train ride to Calcutta (sleeper class)
-Night diving with sharks in the Maldives
-Cage diving with great whites in S.Africa
-Hiking and camping in Western Kashmir
-Stuck in a 4x4 in the middle of the desert at night while trying to make a border run from Djibouti to Somalia

Teach, Learn, Share

*How to Hitch-hike North and magically end up going South (It's all in the inability to speak the language)

* How to age your face using nothing but Namibian desert sand.

*How to start a camp fire using only a flint and some tissue. (This one is useful)

*How to distinguish between Ethiopia's two time zone and not miss your bus. Only Joking, This is impossible!

*How to pick up a hitch-hiker, become best friends, and hitch-hike around the world together.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Couch, if possible a guided tour around the city, and some practical advise about travelling.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Åland Islands

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, United States, Uzbekistan