IMPORTANT: if you are a guy interested in a romantic relationship, don't message me. I am in a long-term committed relationship and am only looking to meet friends.

Hey there! After working in Japan for 3 years I decided to take a career break from August 2019 to fulfill my dream of traveling and volunteering for a couple of years. I visited 65 countries. My last volunteering experiences include working at a preschool in the middle of South African semi desert two years in a row and working with the Ukrainian refugees in Moldova and Estonia.

I grew up in Moscow, Russia, and majored in Oriental Literature and Linguistics at Moscow State University. I lived in Tokyo for a total of 4 years, working as a Systems Engineer, hosting fellow couchsurfers, and exploring the hidden treasures of Japan.

Traveling has always been a very important part of my life as it is a source of inspiration and motivation. For me, traveling is not just going to new places, it's meeting new people and sharing experiences.
This is why I chose to quit my comfortable and safe life in Japan and embrace the adventures of a full-time traveler!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I enjoy being a tourist a lot, but I love feeling like a local even more. I'd love to see how usual people in the city I visit live, to try common food or even cook some. (My cooking skills are mediocre but I'm quite diligent :-P ) Locals always know the best place to party, shop, and wander around, and I had a great experience going to my previous host's favorite places together with them.

Interests

I like learning languages, not only using it for communication, but the process itself. Currently, I can comfortably speak 5 languages and will learn more. My other hobby is video games, I've been playing since I was 8, so I might surprise you with the list of games I played. :-) I enjoy doing photography (behind and in front of the camera), and am always willing to learn about photo editing.
My newest hobby is piano, as my dream was to play melodies from the Final Fantasy series.

To show that you read my profile, please mention the word "CHAI" in the beginning of your message.

I love hiking and Japan offered many great opportunities to enjoy the change of seasons on the fresh air.

As you can see, I enjoy trying new things. If there is something you are really passionate about, tell me, even if it's something casual like knitting. :-)

• literature
• photography
• environment
• cooking
• movies
• video games
• traveling
• music
• piano
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• surfing
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• teaching
• languages
• volunteering
• beaches
• mountains
• sustainability
• renewable energy
• dank memes

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Lately, I've been obsessed with The Witcher saga, and my favorite books genres are fantasy (Elantris, Leviathan Trilogy, The Princess Bride), sci-fi( Ready Player One, Press Start to Play), psychology/sociology (Thinking in Bets, The Coddling of the American Mind, Invisible Women), dystopias (Huxley, Orwell, Lem, Zamyatin), good old Russian and foreign classics (Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Lermontov, Jane Austen, Hemingway, Gabriel García Márquez). As I majored in Japanese literature, I've studied a lot of ancient and classic Japanese literature(which is not well-known outside Japan at all)... Murasaki's "Genji Monogatari" is pretty awesome. I can recommend anyone to read Sei Shonagon's "Pillow Book". It was written 10 centuries ago, but it's so timeless you feel like it was written by a contemporary author.

Music: I listen to Indie music a lot (Bad Suns, Porches, Alt-J, Pompeya), occasionally enjoy some electronics and the 80's music is my vice (Duran Duran, Eurythmics, The Smiths, Billy Idol,INXS,Fleetwood Mac). My favorite band is Depeche Mode.
I used to listen to a lot of metal, rock, and Japanese visual key bands when I was a teenager. (Depeche Mode, Slipknot, Metallica, Guano Apes, Nirvana, Children of Bodom, Apocalyptica, Def Leppard, The Gazette, Luna Sea, Dir en Grey)

Movies: I never get bored of watching anime movies by Makoto Shinkai, Hayao Miyazaki, and others. One of my favorites is Paprika. Some of my favorite TV shows include Black Mirror, The Witcher, El Tiempo entre Costuras, Midnight Diner, Rick and Morty, Friends, Terrace House. Movies: The Great Race, original Star Wars, In Bruges, Blade Runner.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- When I was volunteering in the East of Iceland, a local guy took us for a hike to the nearby mountains. We ended up finding a magical- looking huge valley with a black beach on one side, emerald green mountains with 4 waterfalls on another side, and a river with just 3 houses in between them. One of them was a camping house where we found a shelter. As we forgot to take enough food, we picked up field berries, some spicy plant with flowers to make a tea, and even found a big can of beer in the river, still closed and drinkable. So we made a jam out of the berries, spicy tea, and enjoyed the valley, knowing that we're the only 4 people there.

- Backpacking in Southeast Asia

- Climbing Mount Fuji off-season

- Quitting a nice job and a stable life in my favorite country to travel the world. Living frugally, working 5 jobs to save up for my dream and achieving the goal.

- Shaving my head.

- 10-day trek in Langtang Valley without a guide.

- Swimming in a frozen lake. (It was cold!)

- Interrailing through 6 countries in Europe in the autumn of 2020.

- Volunteering at a local school in a small town in South Africa for a month while living at a local sheep farm. (Twice!)

- Volunteering in Moldova and Estonia during the Russian invasion in Ukraine

- Hitchhiking from Romania to Poland, hitchhiking and camping across Norway for 7 weeks

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some phrases in Russian, Japanese, French or Spanish and some Russian and Japanese cuisine. I am also willing to share language learning tips and tricks.
We can share our favorite music, movies and series, as I'm always looking for something new.
And as I'm doing photography, I can take a beautiful profile picture for you.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Having experienced both hosting and surfing as a guest, I understand that every person is different. While some like to hang out together a lot, going out and chatting, others prefer when guests stay only for a short time and don't cause any disruption to the everyday life of the host. I am easily adaptable and will make sure that you won't regret hosting me. If you are still hesitating, please check my references. :-)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, France, Japan, Russian Federation, United States