Hi people out there!

My name is Greg, Born and raised Minsk, Belarus.
I lead a double life. On one hand I'm IT engineer who enjoys his job and always try to become a better specialist, on the other I use every opportunity to escape the office and lost somewhere on highways of unknown countries.

People describe me as an easy-going person with a lot of interest in other people and the stories they share. It's easy to explain - I just always thirsty for new knowledge and personal experience. Nevertheless, I don't only take, but I enjoy to share what I've and what I've got from people who I met before. There is always circulation of life experience happens around me :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

A few years passed after the first time I was hosted on one's couch by someone who I just met. It was even before I found Couchsurfing as a service, but It does not change the essence. Lots of couches passed after this time, some people slept on mine, but still, at any moment when I come to someone's home or someone come at mine, I have the same feeling like it was at the first very moment - we are breaking the wall which was built against our will.

Having fun at parties, chilling out with beer, discovering new places, working together, listening, supporting, teaching, learning, sharing experience, cooking, washing the dishes, dreaming, seeing off, meeting again wherever else on the world. Some of these moments are simple, some are unforgettable, but all of them are sincere and priceless. You could never get it by paying money and asking for the service. I guess this is why I always try to use couchsurfing in my travels, even when I can afford rent apartment on AirBnb or something like that.
This is the way how any trip becomes really special.

Interests

I am fond of urban culture of modern cities. So I never will refuse to jump on my fixie bike and ride around different corners of the town to explore new street art works or just visit some events.
This is why in my travels when I visit new cities I prefer to just pass by ancient sightseeing and spend more time with my local CS host, who knows more about modern life of the city and know places where real life lives.

• performing arts
• street art
• photography
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• house work
• music
• live music
• metal music
• hiking
• hitchhiking
• urban exploration
• biking
• craft beer
• fixed gear
• discovering new places
• north
• urbanism
• mountain hiking

Music, Movies, and Books

I always try to find more time for reading good books and watch worthwhile movies, but still I feel like it's not enough :) But anyway I've seen and read a lot to discuss different styles and genres. I'm fun of Steven King's books and Tarantino's movies, but it's just picking of the favorites, there're lots more what I like and what I dislike (but it's still interesting to discuss).

About music: my favorite genre is Progressive Metal/Rock. But besides that I love some other styles too, like: post-rock, dark-jazz, metal, punk rock, ska, hc.

I've just started to discover the world of electronic music. Especially genres like IDM, EBM and techno. Would be happy to talk to you if you know something in this field that I haven't explored yet.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Reached wild lands of Scotland by hitchhiking, climbed on Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in UK) almost barefoot where it was heavy rain and 4 °C at the top, came down from the mountain, dried my clothes with toilet hand-dryer and continued my hitchhiking trip farther to the North.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like to share some of my travel experience, like worthwhile places in different cities.
I can to teach you some IT-stuff (programming, testing).
Recommend some nice music form my huge and diverse collection :)
If you want to start play on Jembe (african drum) I can teach you some basic sounds and rhythms.
And I always happy to help you to learn some Russian words and phrases.
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When I host you I always happy to share with you any bath stuff, my laptope, and any food what you can find in my fridge.

What I Can Share with Hosts

When someone hosting me I always try to find how I can share my accumulated experience can be useful for my host or his house.
So sometime I can be experienced IT specialist, who can give an advice how to improve quality for future software product or I can be experienced dish washer and house cleaner. And I will be happy in all of these cases :)

And i want to emphasize cooking. I think it's really cool to cook together. It's the way to collect some interesting recipes form other countries and share them with your hosts or your couchsurfers.
Probably just after one meeting someone will be cooking oatmeal for breakfast the way you do, till the end of his days. You never know :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Scotland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City State