CURRENT MISSION

Working on a half journalism, half travel, half advocacy project, to seek answers for questions about globalization and the meaning of life.

ABOUT ME

My parents moved to the U.S. when I was 13 years old, so I still have a slight accent. People often pick up on this and ask me where I’m from. I most often answer with: “I’m from Transylvania, which used to be Hungary but is now Romania, but lived in Michigan most of my life.” I live in Portland, OR right now, where I moved to three years ago to go back to college. I just recently finished my degree in Communication Studies, with an emphasis on political and mass media communication. I have worked on some local media and journalism advocacy projects (portlandtvnews.org) and will be going back to graduate school in the fall of 2012. I hope to use my travels to gain a better understanding of life, the world and my place in it.

PHILOSOPHY

In the last few years my perspective on the world has changed a great deal. I used to think that life was nothing more than the individual moments we share with people. I still believe that to an extent, but I also feel that systems which we are part of greatly and often negatively influence people’s ability to live a good life. Life, to me, is maximizing one’s potential to seek one’s own happiness and balance in the world. My personal mission in life is to understand the systems we live in, and work towards changing them in ways to allow more people the opportunity to realize their potential in life. Everyone has a different definition of a good life, but we should all aim to create a better world then the one we were born into.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am currently working on a four month around the world project, with main stays in Germany, Hungary, Greece, Egypt, India and Thailand. I plan on conducting interviews with various people, both random encounters and ones seek out, on topics of globalization, nationalism, the financial crisis and life. One of the goals of this project is to empower others to seek answers to questions relevant to them, by documenting my journey in the form of a website. My budget is minimal, making the success of this project greatly reliant on the generosity of others to open their homes and share their time. I hope to use this community to meet interesting and open minded people who will allow me to recharge my batteries.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I just recently started CouchSurfing and have met some unbelievably great people in the process, and hope to keep that up :) I seem to have some of the best conversations with people involved in CS and have learned a lot in my limited experience with it.

Interests

I love camping, hiking, mountain climbing, traveling, talking about politics, contemplating life… I love meeting new people and hearing about different perspectives. I like road trips, and campfires, and waking up excited about what the day might bring.

• books
• documentaries
• beauty
• politics
• traveling
• podcasts
• hiking
• camping
• rock climbing
• communications
• journalism
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

I read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell. I love the Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. For movies, I like to watch documentaries. Bush’s War, The Yes Men, In Debt We Trust, The Zeitgeist movies. Some of my other favorite movies include Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream. I like all kinds of music, but I must be getting old because I don’t seem to think they make music quiet like they used to.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Having a nice half hour conversation with two guys who were planning on robbing me at midnight in a park under the Acropolis.
Natural beauty is what seems to humble me most of the time and what I consider the most amazing things I've seen. Sunrise on Mt. Hood, sunset by the Pacific, the red rocks of Arizona and the mystic feel of the Oregon rain-forests.

Teach, Learn, Share

I enjoy and seek out media that both entertain and educate. I love to talk about radio podcasts, books and documentaries with others who might be interested in such things.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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