CURRENT MISSION

Feel the fear, and do it anyways

ABOUT ME

This is so weird...whatever I plan to do I always end up changing the plan or something goes awry and I need to adapt. As said in the US military, "hope for the best, plan for the worst."

Interesting though last couple of years I have been a cleaner. Yep..a lowly cleaner in a hockey arena in Canada, an arena hosting the famous Vancouver Canucks. I was cleaning toilets and sweeping floors. Then I come to university in Estonia and get an internship in Austria and again...I am still cleaner. Albeit, cleaning super hardmetal carbide powders for plasma welding and playing with acids, but a cleaner nonetheless. Now, I m researching the art of cleaning!

PHILOSOPHY

The desire to explore is what i ask of myself and others. Look for new things to do and places to go. Even at a restaurant, just order something you never tried before. You only have one life to lose.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Please don't be an arrogant ass - I prefer people who are down to earth and love nature and simplicity in life.
interestingly, some of my best friends and people I have developed matured, growing relations with are those I met through Couchsurfing, either hosting them or surfing with them or meeting them in a bar at a CS social.

CS people seem to be a special breed, capable of trusting strangers and sharing fantastic stories of their adventures. I listen and share of course, although I have met some people who can talk and talk for seemingly hours.

In the end, it may not be the final destination, nor the journey itself, but who you spend the time with ;)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

August 2011, I spent about 6 weeks on the road in various countries in Europe including Turkey. I sent out dozens of emails asking for CS people to host me and got all rejected. One woman in Amsterdam waited until the date of arrival just to email me and say no...and she had 2 weeks notice!

But still with all rejections, I still managed to couchsurf thru more than half my time travelling and share my stories and friendship with friends in Europe and Turkey. All the friends I made during my studies and work during the previous year. When I couchsurf, I skip the major tourist trap attractions and spend the time with the family and my friends and hosts. That is the worth-while experience. From hiking along the Austrian/Italian border nature park, to playing Yahtzee at home, or going out for a movie, to getting totally spattered on home brew Vodka, and visiting the local university of my friend.

CS is about friendship and fostering it, not so much the accommodation and destination.

Interests

Stargate Universe...and *&^%* syfy went ahead and canceled it. :(
Exploration and discovery and the mission...in the truest sense.

• arts
• flying
• traveling
• hiking
• surfing
• hockey

Music, Movies, and Books

Batman, Winnie the Pooh, Harry Potter.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Confronted a suspected Vietnamese drug dealer who was branishing a large machete. I was travelling thru a ethnic minority village in Northeast Vietnam near the Laos border and wanted to take some pics of 12 year old brides. The father was a little pissed.

Visiting Kidepo national park in Uganda in mid 2009. The US and Canadian Embassies both caution visitors to have armed escorts and fly into the region. My friends and I hired a car and driver and drove into the region. War?...what war?

Teach, Learn, Share

"Take nothıng but pıctures, keep nothıng but memorıes, leave nothıng but footprınts."

Responsıble Travellers Guıde

Countries I’ve Visited

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Canada, Estonia, Mali, Spain, Uganda, Viet Nam

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