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Albufeira, Faro District, Portugal
@juan-doubell
Member since 2016
I was born in South Africa in the foot hills of the Lebombo Mountains in the Sabie Valley, in a small town (Rightfully a Village in every sense of the word) called Hazyview. The Sabie river which carved the hills was called "Laughing Waters" due to the sound raging water creates makes when the water plays hide and go seek in the rocks. It is located right next to the Kruger National Park where wild animals roam freely, and so did my four brothers and myself. We had very little to entertain ourselves with so to pass our time we swam with man eating crocodiles, caught some of the most venomous snakes known to man and spent our evenings being chased by Hippos trying to walk to our friends. I did not know the world as we all know it now, and I am eternally grateful for this experience, the first time I can remember that I was physically forced to put on shoes was when I was about 13 years old, for my birthday we went to "The Big City" the first time I saw a building over two stories tall. WOW ! I thought to myself when I saw this huge City , since then I had wanderlust and I had no other option but to go explore the world and experience everything she had to offer at least once... Long story short after that day and up to now I have been to 98 different countries around the world, I have lived and worked in almost every major Metropolis on the planet and wondered and crawled into some of the most secluded and desolate places in all four corners of the globe, for which I am truly grateful and humbled to have experienced. During that time I ran the rat race with some of the most talented Capitalist in modern history and meditated with monks all across India, cuddled with lions and escaped death a numerous times. Seen and experienced moments and emotions most fiction authors can only wish to imagine, maybe one day I will sit down and write down my tales, that is if curiosity does not get me first. I am taking things a bit more easy these days and focusing more on building and renewing relationships with my family an existing friends and hoping to add some new friends to my list. As you can imagine the road less traveled had to be walked alone and allot of friends and family have been lost and gained throughout this journey of self discovery.
Interested in Adventure Sports
Interested in Equestrian Sports
Fluent in Afrikaans
Learning Chinese (Simplified)
Why I'm on Couchsurfing
When we travel there is a difference between being a tourist and being a traveler, I love to be the latter, I do not want to rush through a itinerary to try and see the entire Rome in a day and experience nothing. The only true way to experience a place, any place, is to immerse yourself in the local culture, language, food, music, dance to truly say you have "visited" a place. The best way to do so is to speak with people who actually live there and not to be taken on a tour guide who is a translator most likely from the opposite side of the world. So Couch Surfing for me is a tool to show people the place I grew up, the "secret locations" we do not show "Tourists" hidden gems we keep to ourselves and only share with those who wish to experience it and not instigram it. I am hoping when I travel to meet like minded people who, if I am worthy, can share these experiences of their home towns with me, if they so chose to. I have spent countless nights in airplane lobby's and mundane hotels with my travels for work, and that is definitely not the experience I would wish upon any traveler in my area when I have the opportunity to make their experience memorable and exiting, a "once in a life time" kind of deal, so in 50 years from now, they will maybe not remember my name, but they will remember the moments of laughter and experiences we shared together with probably what can only be described as "That crazy white boy from Africa"
Music, Movies, and Books
Music - Led Zeplin, Rolling Stones, The Violent Femmes, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Hendrix, The Beatles, The Yeah, Yeah Yeah's, The Cat Empire, Bob Marley, Rage Against the Machine, Florence and the Machine, AC/DC. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Johny Clegg, Mango Groove, The Black Cat Bones, Mumford and Sons (Only the old stuff), Kings of Lean (Only the old stuff), Jeremy Loops, Books; Shantaram, The hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Perfume, any Wilbur Smith, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, King Lear by William Shakespeare, The Odyssey by Homer, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Trial by Franz Kafka, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Maus by Art Spiegelman , Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak,
One Amazing Thing I've Done
Being
Teach, Learn, Share
I am Professional Art Director and Auctioneer for on of the worlds Largest Art Dealers; So I can Teach; *Art History *Auctioning * Public Speaking * Help to Perfect a sales presentation for a start up, job interview, TedEx talk etc. * Can Teach you "Afrikaans" my mother tongue
What I Can Share With Hosts
Accommodation Stories, Travel, African Safari. Tropical beach trips to Mozambique Diving with Whale Sharks Teaching you how to Braai (Traditional South African Barbecue) Tips on how to travel the world without dying
My Interests
Travel, Deap Sea Diving, Safari, Fishing, white river rafting, Horse riding.
