ABOUT ME

I grew up in Africa and then went to school in England. For the last eight years I've moved around, taking advantage of opportunities to study and live in different countries. Latin American, Iranian and Belarussian ('Soviet' :-) cultures have had the most effect on me.

PHILOSOPHY

In general terms, I want to enjoy life, do something worthwhile, like most people. I value learning and have some principles. I have minimal possessions and like it that way. I try to see people and things for what they are. You might think I'm a little cynical.

It's hard to define yourself unless it's relative to someone else or a given culture. People often seen to think I'm a bit different. I guess I'm happy about that.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed 50+ times, all over the world. Mostly get experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. When I had a place in Budapest I hosted; I liked that too.

Interests

I have a lot of interests; I like to read history, economics, study languages, literature, building things, all kinds of engineering, fixing motorbikes, deserts and mountains. I spent many years studying and doing little else, it probably bordered on clinical compulsiveness, bit there are worse things to indulge in I guess. I liked learning languages and assimilating to different cultures. These last couple of years I've been living a more balanced life. At the moment I work on a couple of interesting software projects, studying chemistry and doing some reading in the humanities.

I live nature and have a concern for the environment, hoping I can do something about it.

I like to travel, with my own transport, when possible. I enjoy being in motion, the open road, not knowing quite what to expect or where I will sleep, finding my way, speaking the language and having dealings and making friends with people.

Recently I started taking Latin dance quite seriously.

Music, Movies, and Books

Films, well I'm working on seeing many of the films from recent decades with an IMDB rating of over 7.8-8.0.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Buying my first ratty old Honda XL125 motorbike in Costa Rica. The feeling of freedom I got as I drove it the first time is one of my most vivid memories. Have been kind of hooked on motorbikes since, even though they are stupid and dangerous :-D

Spending years studying Russian alone in my bedroom, before spending a month in Kaliningrad and being adopted by a group of Russian students.

Spending a month sleeping outdoors on a trip through Europe, and finding it weird to sleep inside a box ("house") again. Also running out of money and getting hungry.

Finding someone similar to you, who can understand you, and who you can confide in. Seems to happen very rarely.

Got some good stories to tell, but would probably prefer they'd not reside publicly and permanently on the internet! :-)

Teach, Learn, Share

I have been known as Macgyver' by friends as I am very good at fixing things!

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, China, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belarus, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hungary, Jamaica, Malaysia, Zimbabwe

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