-- CURRENT MISSION --

Starting in January, 2019, I'm kicking off a hugely ambitious mission to travel to and volunteer in every country on the planet. It's going to be a long long mission (I have to volunteer for a minimum of one month in each country), and it's going to be tough at times too. I hope to make use of Couchsurfing from time to time to make our beautiful world feel a little bit smaller and to learn what I can about the places that I visit from the people that live there.

If you want to follow my journey, head over to https://volunteertheworld.com where you can read all about it!

I'm starting my mission in SE Asia where my intended route looks something like this ; Thailand >> Myanmar >> Malaysia >> Singapore >> Indonesia >> Brunei >> Philippines >> Viet Nam >> Cambodia >> Laos >> ? Taiwan ?

However, everything after those first three stops has yet to be planned and arranged at this point.

OTHER CURRENT MISSION : Learning to play the flute...

-- ABOUT ME --

I'm Anthony Stefano Lo Gelfo. I was born and raised in Great London, England. My father is from Palermo, Sicily. I love people. Some people say that everyone is either an introvert or an extrovert.. well I'm exactly in the middle, I can be both, depending on the situation and my surroundings.

I like dogs and other animals, reading, movies, playing guitar, playing games (any kind of social multiplayer games), cooking, eating, football.... and lots more. Also... I'm strangely into ichthyology.

I love to learn and so if you have something to teach me, or some great secret to teach me then I love that and will definitely be interested in hearing what you have to say.

I am a very good listener. I think it is my best quality. Or at least one of them.

--

I am a travelling volunteer and travel writer. I move from place to place, finding out what our planet is really like and what life is really all about. I am what is called a 'slow traveller'. I like spending longer in my destinations than the average traveller. When I go somewhere, I need to feel the local life and see what the place is like from the eyes of the people that live there. Culture and lifestyle are things that are never the same in two different places. I love to experience that culture and that lifestyle for myself.

I also love to immerse myself in those worlds and discover the local issues. That's why I volunteer for great causes, and do my best to improve the lives of others who were less fortunate than me.

The motto that I live by is : "I'm most at home, when I'm not at home"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfed several times With couchsurfers I have also watched an ice hockey world cup game in Helsinki, visited the Giant's Causeway, attended a reindeer racing event in Lapland, visited the real Santa Claus in Rovaniemi..... even got a surfer to help me move flat when I was living in Moldova :p

Unfortunately, I've never had a place of my own that I was able to offer up to surfers, but I look forward to the day that I have that opportunity.

Interests

Prehistory, Mythology, Music (folk, Jazz, postrock), Interesting Instruments, Cuisine, Reading, Marine biology, Animals, Dogs!, Mountain Biking, Beatboxing, Creative Writing, Animation , Volunteering, Travel (duh)

A few years ago I wrote a fairly depressing comic book. I am currently, very slowly, digitising it, and one day hope to actually do something with it. In the future, I have plans to work on another great idea for a comic, although I need time for that (I have to improve my drawing skills a lot too).

When I was a teenager, I was really into hiphop - mostly conscious hiphop. Then I listened to a lot of lo-fi hiphop and alternative hiphop kind of stuff. Then I got into post rock. Then jungle and drum and bass. Nowadays, I listen to a huge variety of music. I believe that there are no 'good genres' and 'bad genres'. There are just 'good bands' and 'bad bands' according to our own individual preferences.

I love chilling out and playing guitar. I sing terribly, but I might be tempted to give you a bit of Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Beatles or whatever else is taking my mood. I also play some classical - particularly Erik Satie.

I love cooking and experimenting with new cuisines. I'm pretty good at whipping up Italian and Sicilian dishes. Just ask me if you're hungry. I've also learned a lot of recipes from random cuisines from being on the road.

• animals
• dogs
• writing
• recipes
• comics
• reading
• volunteer work
• drawing
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• cycling
• soccer
• animation
• volunteering
• food
• volunteer
• hiphop
• horror films

Music, Movies, and Books

Moby Dick (favourite book), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Catcher in the Rye, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Fear and Loathing.

Pink Floyd, Chet Baker, cLOUDDEAD, Fog, Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, World's End Girlfriend, 13&God, Subtle, Fleetwood Mac, The Roots, Bert Jansch, Satie, Chopin, so much more.

PLUS.... 3 years living in Moldova taught me to love Zdob si Zdub and Carla's Dreams.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I spent two winters working as a reindeer herder in Finnish Lapland with the indigenous Sami people. This meant working outside, in the empty Lappish landscape in weather that sometimes reached as low as -45c. In the middle of the winter, Lapland is plunged into darkness for 24 hours a day - so we often worked in the dark. Often under the gaze of the northern lights. A truly incredible and unique experience.

Then, from summer 2014, I spent a year saving stray dogs in the Republic of Moldova. The country's government kidnap dogs from the streets and put them to death. I volunteered for an NGO that basically stop that from happening or try to. I worked at several dog shelters - caring for hundreds and hundreds of dogs in terrible conditions (Moldova is the poorest country in Europe), protested against the government, appeared on live television and ran an awareness campaign.

Living in Tbilisi, Georgia (3 months) was also an amazing experience. I really enjoyed my time in Georgia.

A few others :

- Road tripping across Ireland for my dissertation studies (A study of Irish Bronze Age Horns)
- Staying in an ice hotel in the Romanian Carpathians
- Visiting the Last Supper in Milan
- The Scilly Isles, England - one of my favourite places on the planet
- Walking across Myanmar (from Yangon to Mandalay) with a statue of Buddha and a group of Buddhist nuns
- Living for 4 months on an island inhabited only by cats. No electricity, no running water...just me and 30+ cats, 7 dogs, 2 goats, 2 geese and some ducks. (Plus wild animals like monkeys, bears, monitor lizards, otters..)

Teach, Learn, Share

Guitar playing, cartoon drawing, card games, beatboxing, Sicilian food and many recipes from all over the globe, the uh.. rules of football, some Italian maybe - Russian and Georgian alphabets?

I can definitely teach you at least a few chords and songs on the guitar - if you want to learn (if I have a guitar with me too).

I am also have an English teaching certificate and several years of experience as an English teacher - so if you want to practice your English or if you have any questions about the grammar or anything - I can try and help with that :D

I have about a million pretty awesome stories to share with anyone who'd be willing to listen. I'd also love to hear your stories too. Conversation is a dying art form.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would be happy to cook and/or clean up for you :) Put your feet up!

Tell you stories from my travels, let you into my world, share great conversation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom