CURRENT MISSION
Find a piece of land

ABOUT ME
I am getting older, but my life is still based on coffee, curiosity and friends. I'd give my last shirt for some time in Mongolia, and have a trip from Timbuktu to Siva drawn in the palm of my hand for those times when Western Sahara and Mali settle. There's a copy of wind, sand and stars from Saint-Exupery in my pocket. I look for experience and failure in people, partly to learn, partly to find a reason to open a third bottle of wine. But I do adore sleeping, so I usually open wine early.

I am a friend to all animals and I prefer mountains, and deserts over big cities. I do appreciate a rooftop beer and can hold a conversation about the concept of inequality or the challenges of labour migration.

I now live in Oxford, and work for a policy consulting firm, mostly conducting research and evaluations in Sub-Sahara Africa. I also work with banks across the continent to support their R&D and innovation efforts to bank the lowest-income segment. I spent the past 12 years of my life mostly in Africa, Southern Africa that is.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I met a barefoot person, a Polish casanova that introduced me to the art of being arty, an Afrikaaner with a passion for jumbo schnitzel and took a bulgarian photographer to a party, which he left with 152 new friends and a rough way home. I was saved by a Swedish IT person and well looked after by a doctor from Peru. I met an Indian master of life, who came to my city, but took me and the suitcase home in a huge car and has been my uncle ever since. There was a social scientist from Norway, who tried terribly hard to cheer me up in a bad moment. I have met a lifetime companion and a spiritual leader in the Ashanti kingdom in Ghana. I have walked Kampala's rooftop paths with a genuine hard worker and left a conference early to have fried fish in the road.

Interests

Elderly people.
Stories. Tell me about your experiences with cock fights in the middel of Rwanda's jungle. I crave stories.
Economics; politics.
Yes.
Economics, hippie.

I do believe change happens out of rage and deeply-rooted anger. Not necessarily global change, but change in my orbit. Thus I can get properly mad. Taught by grandpa: if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. I can be a tat frank about our general uselessness.

• dogs
• arts
• wine
• coffee
• politics
• movies
• music
• fishing
• camping
• economics
• science

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I hunted a porcupine (no, i did not kill it), I stood next to a giraffe without realizing it, so I know how a giraffe smells if anyone is interested? I swam with a catfish and I survived a boiled pigshead and half a liter of coke even with a long gravel road home. I have woken up in the desert and I have heard Rhinos breathe and monkeys make love. I witnessed a debate between schools of Islam in the roads of Kumasi, and swam in a bright green pool with an Egyptian to conduct social studies. I watched fishermen pull in their nets and horses work in mines and humans be kind to each other.

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to learn: how to whistle with 2 fingers, how to bake cinnamon roles, how to shoot (done), how to tell good whiskey from bad whiskey, how to drive a bulldozer, how to catch a fish with bare hands, how to tackle a heavyweight and how to use stars for orientation. I want to learn how to listen to people in a way that it matters.
I can teach basic economics for angry people that want to improve their credibility. I am good at music and picking movies and toppings for ice cream and I can hug you for a long time without it being awkward.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ghana, Guinea, India, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Portugal, Russian Federation, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Namibia, South Africa, United Kingdom