ATTENTION SURFERS

Please read to get the best experience if you decide to stay at our home.
Only one person (as the couch just won't fit more than 1) and max 2-3 days. Please write me a request with a proper description of your trip and plans. I cannot be sure of what I/we will be doing a month, a week from now. I can also accept last minute requests, as I understand people can be a bit spontaneous when traveling. There's a kitchen you are free to use, but be sure to clean after yourself and respect the place we live in.

ALSO, it is very important for me and my wife to get to know you and to spend time with you while you are staying at our place. The most important thing for me is meeting you, sharing conversations and experiences, having fun together. So if you are just looking for a place to stay and sleep, look somewhere else. Don't tell me "I won't bother you", cause I really want you to "bother" me :) I usually have free time in the evenings during the week and during the weekends, so I'd be happy to meet & show you around. Let's have fun!

CURRENT MISSION

To figure out where I like to live the most. To learn by seeing, reading, hearing, trying something new.

ABOUT ME

Communicative, easy-going, friendly, curious, active and at the same time never really in a rush.
I was born in Russia and moved to the US with my parents when I was 4. And then moved back to Russia with the divorce of my parents. So I was raised in two countries. And that fact affected my mentality, my view of life, my attitude towards people. It made me more democratic, open-minded, tolerant, caring and generally kind.
I'm kind of a nature lover, especially fond of mountains, the ocean and stars. Now back in California and recently married (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/anastasiya.gelman)!

You might want to find out something more about me: https://about.me/danshostak

PHILOSOPHY

Enjoy life. Travel. Stay open-minded.

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing.”

“It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I stay with people when I travel, host travelers, show travelers around town; and hang out with other travelers when traveling.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had a couple of experiences staying at people’s houses when I traveled and hosting travelers. Mostly positive experience.

Interests

Art, photograghy
Snowboarding, mountains
Swimming
Live-shows. Music
Science, Medicine
Travelling, hiking, natural landscapes, meeting people,architecture
Gastronomy, cooking
Reading

• arts
• architecture
• beauty
• cooking
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• hiking
• snowboarding
• swimming
• medicine
• science
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - Dramas, Melodramas, Thrillers, Psychodelic thrillers.
Some of my favorites: Interstellar, The Imitation Game, The Bucket List, Shutter Island, Awakenings, Les Choristes, Intouchables, Inception, American History X, Django Unchained, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Sixth Sense, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Revolver, RocknRolla, Hitch

Music - Indie, Rock, House, Hip-hop/trip-hop/wonky-hop, etc.
Some of my favorite bands: Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, Snow Patrol, the Kooks, Foals, Death Cab for Cutie, Blind Pilot, 2Cellos, Youngblood Brass Band, Maribou State, Bonobo, Frank Ocean, BJ The Chicago Kid, Ассаи

Books are man's best friend. Mikhail Bulgakov, Graham Joyce (Smoking Poppy, Dark Sister, The Tooth Fairy, The Silent Land), George Orwell, Anton Chekhov, David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I Robot, Farenheit 451

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Got lost in a snowstorm up in the mountains in Andorra while snowboarding.
Freeride experience in Georgia.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love sharing, I like teaching (snowboarding, driving, English, cooking), and I love learning new things through life experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Slovakia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation, United States