CURRENT MISSION

towerrunning around Europe

ABOUT ME

My friends say I'm strange and that I've always liked to have everything in my own particular way and have my own way of seeing things (often not very common for a girl, that's what people say), which is probably true.

I have a calm and composed attitude and it's almost impossible to piss me off, however I quite easily get ecstatic and love to laugh my head off too. I'm generally an ultra-optimist and try to spread my joy and energy all around, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but I think I've managed to change some people's lives for better.

I'm not very trustful in the beginning. I usually need quite a lot of time to get to know other people (and let them know me too), but when I make friends, it's like !for life! and I always try to cherish relationships with people who I feel somehow connected to.

What I can say about myself is that I'm kind of extreme. When I'm into something, I'm totally into it and nothing can stop me. I love learning new things and practicing new skills and getting better and better in everything I decide to pick up and it fills me with indescribable joy and satisfaction when I see results of my efforts. Sometimes I think I should never settle down (I mean start a family), because I can't imagine giving up on all these things I love doing. There is not enough time in life and I'd love to experience and learn everything I possibly can!

And I enjoy learning new things about myself and it happens all the time.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe everyone should find their own way of living that makes them happy and we should try to achieve as much freedom in our lives as possible and never follow the easiest and the best tested way, just because society wants us too. Being independent in all kinds of ways can teach us to find happiness within ourselves, not searching for it constantly in the outside world. It took me some time to learn it (like 29 years) and I feel extremely lucky having achieved this state of mind. I only sometimes wish I could learn to speak about it more precisely and be able to let other people experience it too.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I don't share my flat on a regular basis, since my father is the owner, but from time to time it could be nice, especially when somebody has already hosted me. Usually I don't have too much free time to show you the city, but I would try to do my best to let you know what's really worth doing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've only had a few CS experiences (both as a host and sufer) and I was lucky to meet some wonderful people this way. I think CouchSurfing has changed my way of seeing travelling and meeting people from other cultures and I'd love to become even more open. I think I'll take part in it even more in the future.

Interests

I've always had very wide interests which made me do millions of things at the same time. My biggest three at the moment are definitely music, sport and motion graphics.

I'm so deeply into music that it supplies me with most of emotions I need in life and I'm definitely getting more and more addicted each day - I love digging, searching, collecting vinyls, reading about music history etc. I would love to get to know in my life as much music as possible and learn as much as I can about what's behind it. A few years ago I started to feel an overwhelming need to somehow become part of music and so I immedietaly picked up bass guitar and started to learn, just for fun. I love just playing along my favourite tunes. I felt bass is just my instrument and I still feel it, though I'd also love to learn to play some other instruments in my life if I have time, like djembe, kalimba or drums. Sometimes I wish I was a musician. If I ever have kids I'll definitely push them into music as early as possible.

I'm a sport freak and I find a lot about myself getting faster, stronger and better. Recently I started doing towerrunning (running up skyscrapers) and already have some successes in this field - right now I'm the 18th fastest woman in the world and number 2 in my country (Towerrunning World Cup). I want to spend the next year travelling around Europe and taking part in some master races.

I also took part in some running and triathlon races and am willing to accomplish more and more. Finding my physical limits and trying to exceed them is what really keeps me going and helps me not to get into trouble or bad mood (and I really can't imagine my life without it - I think I would go crazy).

Recently I started a blog with my race and training reports: http://gomeelah.blogspot.com/ (unfortunately in Polish). I've also practiced a lot of other sports in life (snowboarding, capoeira, danced a lot of different styles etc.). I'm also the leader of an unformal training group in Krakow - we meet each day at 8 AM in the park and train hard (something that is most commonly called bodyweight training - I have a lot to say about this stuff). My biggest dream (and I'm almost sure I will do it one day) is completing the Iron Man race.

I love making motion graphics, learning more about animation and improving my computer skills. It's always been my passion and I am lucky to have found the source of income in it. You can find some of my projects here: https://vimeo.com/emilialany

• capoeira
• triathlon
• running
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• music
• live music
• guitar
• drums
• snowboarding
• sports
• world cup
• animation
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Music is my first love and it moves me more than anything. I listen to tones of music ranging from old school funk, acid jazz, blues, atmospheric dnb from the 90s to fresh stuff like nu beat. Recently I discovered afrobeat and some other traditional music of different parts of the world. I'm also slowly growing up to dig into jazz more deeply.

I can't go a day without digging into something new. I also love reading about music, musicians, connections between groups, some biographical stuff etc. I'm planning to make a short animated film dedicated to my love for music. Live music events are like my fuel necessary to survive. Check out my last.fm profile: http://www.lastfm.pl/user/Meelah

As for books, I've never been keen fiction (it's kind of a waste of time for me, since life is already interesting enough), though I love reading biographies, some scientific things (especially about human body, human brain etc.) and intelligent columns.

I love movies (especially the kind of films that leave me with a really deep impression - either highly comforting or devastating - it just has to be strong), though I don't watch them very often these days, since I prefer to use my time more actively.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I get most of my life's pleasures from accomplishing small challenges everyday but there have also been very intense moments in my life, most of which were amazing live music events I've been to (I'd have to mention a huge amount of them) and some of the sport accomplishments. I love all kinds of new experiences (even if they are not necessarily pleasant, if you know what I mean), since each of them leaves me with some new knowledge about myself, other people and life. I think the most amazing things are still to come.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can surely teach some computer animation (and some other basic computer skills like using Photoshop etc.), English too (as I did it as my job for many years), but first of all you can join me and my group on our free workouts. I have quite a big knowledge in the subject of keeping fit so you can always ask me anything and I can plan a workout plan for you if you like.

And I love learning new things. Whenever I have the chance to learn something new, I take it up. I love learning languages, new computer skills, new movements and doing other challenges to find out what I'm capable of (e.g. trying to learn handbalancing at the moment).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Poland