CURRENT MISSION

Looking for my destiny... or my new destination

ABOUT ME

I grew up in Colmenar Viejo, a town that is 30 km. away from Madrid.I am 24 years old. I am studying journalism and mass communication at the University Complutense of Madrid and last year I was an exchange student in the US at the University of Oklahoma. I really liked the university in the US it was an awesome experience from a personal and educational perspective.

When I turned 21 I started to be seduced by the idea of travelling. Then, in the summer of 2009 I saved up and I decided that it was time to do something different in my life. Thus I went one month to Boston to take an English course, actually that was an excuse. My real intention was going abroad. The experience was so good that immediately I became addicted to travelling. Next summer I needed, another shot of live but this time had to be longer. It was for 7 months. Then, I went to Edinburgh (Scotland) from June 2010 to January 2011. I worked washing dishes and as a waiter, jobs that I had never done before . Also, I met many different people from other countries. In fact, there was where I met my girlfriend: Megumi. She is from Tokyo and we are still together despite the distance :) After I came back to Madrid to keep on studying, I saw that my uni was offering some scholarships. So I applied for all of them and eventually I was choosen to go to the University of Oklahoma. As I said before, the experience has been great.In June 2011 there was no more excuses to travel to an English speaking country and I had my girlfriend in Japan. The decision was clear: I had to go to that country. Since then I have been studying the culture, the history, and the language. I feel Japan as a very exciting place and I would love to move there once I finish my studies. About me.I am a very friendly and open minded person. My leiv motiv is that I am a continuous learner. I travel to learn. Thus, that is the reason I started to use CS. It is a very good way to meet locals and discover the country in depth not only rushing to the main museums and sightseing places. But not only travelling, I try to get different experiences from things I have never done. For example, my blog is a way I use to find out different issues.Its direction: www.adrianespallargas.comI write in Spanish and in English.The articles in English are usually about: Politics, Economics, communication, and rarely about travels.On the other hand, the articles I write in Spanish are written in blog-style. I mean, I usually write about things that happen in my daily life but have made me learn something about life. I also do this articles in a short of literally way and I am able to do so better in Spanish and in English to date. I also like taking pictures so you can find pictures of some of my trips in my blog.

PHILOSOPHY

You only live once and it is such a big world with such a different people that there´s no point to be always in the same place like a tree. I love being with different people because everyone has something to teach you and I believe that live is a continous learning path. Furthermore, if you meet people from other countries your vision will be enlarged. .
Things that I want to do:1. to visit 50 countries (and all the continets).2. to Write a book3. to Write 10 songs 4. to Shoot a shortfilm5. to Speak 3 languages WELL 6. to Live in Barcelona for 3 Months 7. to Work for a big company8. to work for my own small company 9. to Have a deep knowledge of Spain10. To live abroad for 5 years (2 years so far)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participated in CS being hosted and going to the Surfers meetings in a city when I am travelling. I hope to be able to be hosting soon but now I live with my parents so I think that they do not like the idea of hosting someone :) But as soon as I move out I will start hosting people. I think it is an awesome experience too.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

-- Jp in Chicago
-- Kirby in Washington
-- Oded in Tel Aviv
-- Suhail in Haifa

So far, CS has been an amazing activity. I realized that visiting places and monuments is cool but it is just an activity to do while I am in another city. It is not the purpose of the trip itself. It is an excuse to go abroad. What I enjoy the most is mixing with locals and understanding the values of their culture.
Thanks to CS I am able to do this. But do not misunderstood. I think that there are some monuments that are must-visiting! :)

Interests

Play guitar, travel, to meet people, listen to the music, to be with friends, to go party, to read, to learn of history, to write, to go to the mountain, to ski, to play football, to have some beers with friends, to swim, to keep fit...

• culture
• coloring
• beer
• partying
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• blogging
• magic
• music
• guitar
• skiing
• soccer
• swimming
• economics
• history
• journalism
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Franz Ferdinand, Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo fighters, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Led Zep, Beatles, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Queen, Bob Dylan, Weezer, Strokes, Oasis, Mama´s Papa´s, Slayer, GnR, AC/DC, Pixies, Hendrix, Vetusta Morla, Springsteen, Placebo, Muse, Libertines, Stray cats, Ramones.

Pulp fiction, Good Will Hunting, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, The Rope, The Sleuth, M Dusseldor vampire, Godfather, Goodfellas, casino, Bravehearth, Citizen kane, Spinal Tap, Saving private Ryan, The third man, Good bye Lenin... I like almost every sort of movies.

About books I´m interested in classic novels, historical novels, biographies and essays.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well, a place wich really amazed me was Monument Valley just in the border between Utah and Arizona (U.S.). Everyone has seen those huge rocks. Me as well, but I didn´t expect that they were going to be there.

The sound of the wind, the color of the sand, the vast natural and the dusk made me feel like time was stopped. I think that I only stayed there for 15 minutes but that remember perfectly how tiny I felt.

It´s a magic place

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States