NEXT MISSION: Visit Iraqi Kurdistan

Currently taking a break from work to do what I love most - traveling.

Worked as a university lecturer and researcher in UK and Portugal, and as an analyst for the UN in Serbia.

My PhD research was on unrecognized and partially recognized states so if you're interested in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, Western Sahara, Somaliland, Palestine and other slightly obscure places in the world. I'm happy to share stories and practical tips :)

I consider myself to be very open-minded and easy to get along with. I have lived in 9 countries in the past 15 years, with all kinds of people from all around the world. People tell me I'm interesting, intelligent, quirky, counter-intuitive, at times irreverent, but always trustworthy and responsible.

I'm adventurous and I never turn down an invitation to travel. I think by traveling one can learn a lot, you just need to be open-minded and accepting of the culture of others. Sometimes I feel like I've learned more from Ukrainian miners, Romanian farmers, Mongolian nomads, Iranian fruit vendors, Turkish merchants, Georgian bakers and Serbian housewives than I have at the university :)

I spend my time among friends, traveling, doing sports, watching movies, reading, getting involved in civil society, volunteering, and of course - traveling. In the future I want to work in an international organization in the field of development or conflict resolution.

PHILOSOPHY: Sapere aude - Dare to know!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been a member since 2009, one of the pioneers in the CS community, went to many meetings in different countries, loved the atmosphere, and met lots of interesting people. Been hosting people here and there, whenever I had the opportunity.

I aim to bring positive energy to the people I host and especially to the people who host me. It is my belief that if you do good, this will come back to you and I have not been disappointed.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

If you give me a choice between a couch and a free room in a 5-star hotel, I will choose the couch every single time. It's not about comfort, but about atmosphere, meeting people and getting to know their culture and personality.

I have never had a bad experience so far. I've met amazing people and learned a lot from them, thanks to CS!

Interests

people, traveling, travel writing, cultural differences, literature, movies, languages, history, society, politics, philosophy, martial arts, food, tea

academic interests: politics, culture and history of Caucasus and post-Soviet space in general, ethno-political conflicts, de facto states, geopolitics

Music, Movies, and Books

Some of my favourite writers are:

Roberto Bolaño
Haruki Murakami
Ernest Hemingway
Vladimir Bartol
Franz Kafka
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Jean Paul Sartre
Hermann Hesse
John Steinbeck
Milan Kundera
Orhan Pamuk
Elif Shafak

Favourite movie directors:

David Lynch
Stanley Kubrick
Quentin Tarantino
Roman Polanski
Michelangelo Antonioni
Sergei Eisenstein
Darren Aronofsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Akira Kurosawa
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Alfred Hitchcock
Ingmar Bergman Fritz Lang
Orson Welles
Werner Herzog
Masaki Kobayashi
Bernardo Bertolucci
Martin Scorsese
Federico Fellini
...and many others

I love Iranian cinema, German Expressionist cinema from 1920s, French New Wave, Italian Neorealism,...

Music: I like a lot of different kinds of music, from 80's pop to rock and metal, to chansons and classical music. Lately I'm exploring jazz hop (a mix between jazz and hiphop)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the most memorable things I have been engaged in, were the international youth projects I used to organize and participate in, focusing on intercultural dialogue - we brought people from different countries together, enabled people who never traveled to go abroad, created many friendships, fostered curiosity and learning. This was something that prompted me to get to know more of the world and it's rich cultural diversity.

So far, I visited more than 70 countries and traveled off the beaten path: visited Grozny (the most destroyed city in the world in 1999), San Pedro Sula (the most dangerous city in the world), dived in Honduras, hiked a volcano in Guatemala, tried whale (Iceland), camel, crocodile, kudu, zebra, ostrich (South Africa) and other types of meat as well as grilled ox's balls (Kenya) and tried raw horse meat (Japan).

I have been refused exit (not entry!) from Transnistria and detained at a few borders.

I was stuck in a train without electricity (no heating and lights) for hours in the middle of southern France in one of the worst snowstorms there in the last 100 years.

I swam in Adriatic, Mediterranean, Aegean, Baltic, Atlantic, Pacific, Black, North, Red, Dead and Caspian sea. I took a dip in the Adriatic in December, in the Mediterranean in February and in the North sea in April.

Some of the memorable things I've seen:

- Bukhara and Samarqand (Uzbekistan)
- Tian Shan Mountains (Kyrgyzstan)
- Pamir Mountains and Wakhan Corridor (Tajikistan)
- The Forbidden Palace (China)
- Taj Mahal (India)
- Itaipu dam (Paraguay)
- Iguazu waterfals (Brazil, Argentina)
- Mayan ruins in Copan (Honduras)
- Lake Atitlan (Guatemala)
- Cradle of Humankind (South Africa)
- Masai Mara (Kenya)
- Keops pyramid (Egipt)
- Petra (Jordan)
- Lake Baikal (Russia)
- Republic of Tuva (Russia)
- Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Dagestan (Russia)
- Kyoto, Nikko, Nara (Japan)
- Ancient city of Ani, Sumela monastery (Turkey)
- Khor Virap, Tatev (Armenia)
- Stonehenge (UK)
- Quobustan (Azerbaijan)
- Geysirs and volcanos (Iceland)
- Fjords (Norway)
- Eiffel Tower (France)
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Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach about unrecognized and partially recognized states as well as other weird, remote, unusual places most people never heard of.

I can tell you a lot about Slovenia, Central Europe and the Balkans, the culture, history, and politics of these regions.

I can share experiences from my travel trips, share tips, provide contacts.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can teach English, French and Russian.

I can show you some jiu-jitsu/self-defence basics.

I can cook some good international dishes, such as Chinese fried rice and satarash (a Turkish/Bosnian dish).

I can give good travel advice based on a lot of experience, share stories from my travels and show photos of places I've been to.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Armenia, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, United States

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