I am an English/NZ guy with a huge thirst for travel and a very varied career. After finishing studying Russian and Italian at Oxford, I went off to Paris to train as an actor, and then worked for a couple of years in fringe theatre, while at the same time starting up a contemporary art gallery in London, representing young contemporary artists from the former Soviet Republics. After a few years of that I moved to Russia and ran forestry companies in Siberia for four years (although I was based in Moscow), and then a gold-mine in the Russian Arctic for 3 and a half years. After that I came back to the UK and ran tech startups and mentored founders. I also bought and rebuilt a 400-year old house in Montenegro, which is where I now live.

Instagram: @wigginjonathan

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on Couchsurfing because so often in the past when I have travelled, the best experiences have been when I ended up staying with local people unexpectedly, when they invited me into their homes. I think that the idea behind Couchsurfing is a great one, and I'd love to find out if it works for me. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to host too, and not just couchsurf!

Interests

I am crazy about travelling to slightly unusual places, photography, sculpture, going to art galleries and museums, swimming, walking, riding motorbikes, diving, cooking and writing.

• arts
• writing
• contemporary art
• photography
• acting
• cooking
• walking
• drinking
• technology
• traveling
• hiking
• swimming
• sustainability
• diving
• motorbikes

Music, Movies, and Books

I have an appalling memory for books, although I read more than 50 a year normally (that's probably the problem!), but I love a lot of Russian classical literature, Italian renaissance poetry, modern English writing.

As for music, I love everything from Bach to Bukem, and at the moment I've got a bit of a thing for guitar-based, slightly folksy stuff.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Ran a gold-mine in the Russian Arctic.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully I can share good stories, interesting conversation, a different view of the world. Apart from that, I would be glad to cook for my hosts (I enjoy cooking), or it would be great if I could take them out for a drink or some food.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Saint Martin (French part), Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Italy, Montenegro, Russian Federation, United Kingdom