CURRENT MISSION

Passion, a life beyond fear of boringness and instant satisfaction

ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Leonardo. I am new at couchsurfing and yet feel like I have been here for such a long time. You see, I had the chance to live abroad and travel on my own from an early age, and I believe that these experiences have contributed more to my education than school or college will ever do. I have also hosted a lot of friend, mostly while I was living in Cartagena, it is always a pleasure to do it!

I think of myself as an easy going person, that has many questions (of all kind) and very few answers. I also believe that it is mostly by walking, observing and talking to different people that one can scratch the surface of these questions. Even though I have been moving for a while, I am very attached to my family and friends. I have 2 elder brothers and 2 nephews that are amazing. Most of my family and close friends live in Bogota and I have come to realize that this is the place where I want to live, once I decide to settle down.

By the way, I'm 28, born in Bogota (Colombia) and I am currently finishing my 2nd year PhD in Economics at the University of Illinois. My research is related to poverty traps and social mobility. I am particularly interested in why disadvantaged kids have less ambitious aspirations, and how this affects their future. I like academia, and I think it is a good place for me to promote policies that can make a difference.

I seriously though about studying architecture, and have always loved photography. I shared some pictures I ha€™ve taken, hope you like them. My secret dream (not so secret) is to pack my camera, some clothes and travel for a couple of years... Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy about what I’m doing right now, however sometimes I feel I should just leave and experience new things (quite sure I’m not the only). In the meanwhile, I will continue travelling as much as I can!

This summer, I am planning to spend 2 months travelling form Spain to Turkey with my girlfriend. We would like to visit most of the European Mediterranean coast. I have great expectations about this trip.

PHILOSOPHY

I don't want fear of boringness to be the main drive of my life. I don´t want instant satisfactions to distort my perspective. I am lucky, I am passionate about something. I will try as hard as possible to cultivate this passion and never let it go.

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I would like to know new people from everywhere. I really loved to show Cartagena to my hosts and hope I will be able to do the same at Urbana-Champaign. I would also like to travel a lot, and learn from other participants about their hometowns. I believe it is the only way to really get to know the places you visit and learn about the culture.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I am new here, hope to have more experiences soon.

Intereses

I am very interested in traveling and meeting all kind of people. I enjoy listening to others, their stories and their thoughts... I am usually very curious and ask a lot of questions about their lives.
When I am alone, I rather stay home, watch a movie or read. As for sports, I have been swimming a lot lately. I also like climbing and sailing.

• culture
• architecture
• photography
• education
• walking
• clothing
• traveling
• sailing
• sports
• rock climbing
• swimming
• economics
• teaching

Música, películas y libros

Love Salsa (the old one, Son cubano, FANIA) would really like to spend some time in Cuba... Also enjoy classical music, have been obsessed with Chopin for a while... Grew up with Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, more recently Coldplay... For those who are not familiar with recent colombian music, strongly recommend Bomba Estereo and Monsieur Periné...
As for books, I would begin with the Colombian Nobel Gabriel Garcia Marquez and my personal favorite Love in Times of Cholera. Should be read while in Cartagena... If you are interested in colombian literature, these are some of the books I enjoyed La Voragine (Jose Esutacio Rivera), Siervo sin Tierra (Eduardo Caballero Calderón) Que viva la musica (Andrés Caicedo), Delirio (Laura Restrepo), El olvido que seremos (Hector Abad Faciolince)...
A few more books that had an effect on me: 1984, Huis Clos, Ensayos sobre la ceguera, The tin drum, Rayuela, If this is a man...
As for movies, the list is endless... These are some that come to my mind: La vita é bella, Pulp Fiction, Dr Strangelove, Shindler´s list, Melancholia, The Godfather, No, Central Station, Amores Perros, El Secreto de tus ojos, Chico y Rita, In the mood for love, Cherry blossom, The wave, kite runner, the painted veil, Fight club... (I could keep going)
As for Colombian movies: La estrategia del caracol, Perder es cuestión de metodo, Retratos en un mar de mentiras, Los colores de la montaña, Paraiso travel...

Enseña, aprende, comparte

I have been teaching for a while at college, and I love it. It really makes you think, as a matter of fact, it is the best way to learn!
Besides, most of my research ideas have actually come from random conversations...

Países que he visitado

Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Poland, United Kingdom, Venezuela

Países en los que he vivido

Colombia, France, Italy, United States

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