Born and raised in Saint-Petersburg, Russia but have been travelling for the last 15 years. I am based in Istanbul at the moment, on Heybeliada, a small island in the Marmara Sea close to the city. I've lived in Bangkok for over than 5 years, I've lived in India, China and Georgia, I've travelled in Europe, Cambodia, Laos and Nepal. I speak several languages, I've been translating books, living off-the-grid in the remote Beaches of Thailand and Indonesia while working for a telecom company and now going to make a next move back to Hong Kong.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We are all fractions of each other, we are all living on the same planet and sharing the knowledge, bread and the roof have always been our basic human needs.

Interests

A good book, a cup of coffee, a fantastic story and amazing view. I'm full of stories, and Singapore story is a new chapter of my book yet to be written.

• literature
• yoga
• off-roading
• traveling
• jazz
• food
• film photography
• asia
• islands

Music, Movies, and Books

The Sheltering Sky by Bernardo Bertolucci, all the movies by Jim Jarmusch, all the movies by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Blow Up. As a kid, I've learnt to play cello and piano, one of my distant relatives is Leonard Bernstein, I'm a great admirer of Mahler and Bach. Glen Gould is probably my favorite pianist, I love Jazz as well but the list of my favorites will be too long.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've translated a couple of books into Russian, one of them was by Howard Marks and the other by Bret Easton Ellis. They both got published. I've lived in the Himalayas in winter while my wife was pregnant and then we had a home delivery in Goa, my son is now three, living on the island here in Istanbul, surrounded by nature, befriending donkeys and cats.

Teach, Learn, Share

I shoot medium format, and photography is my true passion, we could talk about it for hours, I'm a linguist and would be happy to share what I've learnt over the years living in different cultures, I could say I'm a Buddhist but it will sound better if I just say that I'm walking my way without making unnecessary harm for the planet, and, yes, I'm vegetarian.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Anything within reasonable limits

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Georgia, India, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey