LIFE MISSION

"To live deep and suck the marrow out of life; to put to rout all that is not life, and not, when I come to die, discover that I have not lived." - H.D. Thoreau as paraphrased in Dead Poets Society

ABOUT ME

I love learning. I love teaching because it is the second best way to truly learn something. The best of course being to get out there and do it. So, I'm traveling the world.

UPDATE: I am currently back in the United States, in Bend, Oregon. This is a temporary thing, where I'm staying with family until I get my life back onto its own two feet, so I am unable to host. Also, I don't know the area very well, so I am unlikely to be able to offer advice about places to go or things to do. And given the current SARS-Cov-2 / Covid19 situation, I'm definitely not up for meeting up. Sorry. 😓

**I expect this might be a little long, because I want to give anyone I might meet a good idea of who I am. You probably don't need to read every word, but please at least give it a skim so you can get a feeling for who I am... 🙂

First of all, you may be able to get an idea of my beliefs, likes, dislikes, etc. by checking out the stuff I post on Twitter or Instagram. Feel free to check them out if you want to see more about me.
Twitter: @BioAlex
Instagram: @BioAlex1978
I have a photography portfolio: https://bioalex.portfoliobox.net/

I left the US in 2001 to live and work in Japan. I traveled around Japan on a bicycle in 2003. I left Japan to travel the world in 2006 and rode a bicycle around Europe for 5 months. Then I got a job in Morocco and stayed there for a year. Then, I headed for SE Asia, where I traveled a bit in Thailand and Malaysia. I've spent the last almost 10 years living in Bangkok, Thailand working as a high school biology teacher in a Thai Government School. It was a very good experience, but many little issues with the culture of learning here and the Thai education system overall built up enough to become unbearable and unfortunately make me fall out of love with teaching. And a teacher who no longer cares should no longer be a teacher, so I have taken an indefinite break. I am now a nomad, traveling on my savings for as long as possible until I come across a new opportunity. Hopefully I'll learn to love teaching again, or at the very least, find an opportunity that lets me take advantage of the things I loved most about teaching.

What else to say about myself to let you know what kind of person that I am? Here's a smattering of things:
- I'm generally laid back, relaxed, and so on; I try not to let things get to me, or if they are getting to me, I try not to ruin anyone else's day over it. I can very much go with the flow and try to keep any complaints to a minimum (unless we are specifically having a rant-off about something 😉)
- I am shy when it comes to first meetings with strangers, but once past that point, if we have common interests I may talk your ear off, though I will also listen intently if you end up talking my ears off as well. I do tend to be quiet and hang back and listen to the conversation in group situations where I don't know people well; it doesn't mean I'm not having a good time, just that I don't have anything to contribute to the conversation at the moment so I'm listening and absorbing.🙂👍🏻
- I'm especially quiet in car rides; I don't know why, but I just don't do well carrying conversations in cars. Sorry; probably not a good passenger. But I will chip in with gas money. 😉
- I am not religious. If you'd like a label, then I'd say I'm an apathetic agnostic atheist (I don't believe in deities, I don't claim to know, and I'm not really concerned whether any exist). Religion plays no part in my personal day to day life. However, I am very much a humanist and feminist, for an indication of where my morality is. If you are religious, power to you; everyone has every right to believe what they wish. I am very live and let live, and generally there is no reason to bring it up. I will not try to convert you if you don't try to convert me. I won't bring it up if you don't bring it up. If you want to have a discussion about it, I am more than happy to. If you don't, then I'm more than happy not to talk about it. We can get along and be good people regardless of our faiths or lack-there-of. However, if you are religious and are looking to share in religious practices (going to church or mosque or temple, praying, etc) with me, you should at least know this about me, so we don't end up with any bad feelings about it. Peace. 😊
- I am a nerd. Biology. Science in general. Gaming. Movies. Informal philosophy (i.e. drunk philosophical discussions rather than knowing the actual technicalities of philosophy, though I can BS pretty well 😜). Technology. Science Fiction. Fantasy. Whatever. I am fascinated by the universe and everything in it and many things we imagine about it or what it could be in our fiction, and I love having long nerdy conversations about it. 🤓
- I am not a party person. I don't smoke. I don't do any drugs beyond the caffeine in my coffee, and I do enjoy drinking some alcohol. However, I don't over do it. I don't drink to get drunk; I drink because I enjoy the drinks and the pleasant buzz. Beer, red wine, and Gin&Tonic are my alcoholic beverages of choice. I'd rather drink them in a chilled out bar or on a quiet porch or living room or rooftop. I generally don't like clubs or other places where you can't really talk, unless it's a live music venue with a good band, or the DJ is really good.
- I am, of course, open to new experiences, whether food, drink, or activities. My general philosophy about that, with few exceptions, is "try everything once".
- I am originally from the United States, but I am about as far from a jingoist, nationalist, "America is the greatest!" etc type as you can get. Also, I haven't lived there since 2001, so I'm probably not really any more up on what's popular or not popular there than you are. 😉
- I am politically liberal and progressive, generally more socialist than capitalist, and as I mentioned, a humanist and feminist. I am open minded and respectful of other people's beliefs, self-image, personal autonomy, sexuality, and gender identity. I try to be aware of my privileges and not allow them to cause me to discount the experiences of others. I believe in punching up, not punching down.
- I am a long distance runner. Expect me to ask you where I can go running, if you are so kind as to host me. If you are also a runner, then hey, maybe we can run together. 😎🏃🏻 (admittedly, the humidity in Bangkok has been ridiculous recently, so I haven't been running as much as I should be and have slowed down quite a lot, so more likely it would be me running behind you if we run together)
- While my full name is Alexander, I go by Alex. Please don't call me "Al" or "Lex". Definitely please don't call me "Mr. Samaras". 😜

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY

Personal Motto: Don't be afraid of dying. Be afraid of not living. Also, question everything. 😉My only plan is that I have no plan. Still, these rules help me get through life:
"You should be the change that you want to see in the world." - Gandhi
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Gandhi
"No day but today." - Jonathan Larson
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." - a runner's mantra, as quoted by Haruki Murakami in "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running"
"Control what is controllable, maggots, and let everything else take a flying fuck at you." - Stephen King, "The Gunslinger"
"My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand." - Buddha
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." - Marcus Aurelius

JUST A LITTLE NOTE ABOUT CS FRIENDS:
Every person on my CouchSurfing friends list is either someone who has hosted me, someone I've hosted, or someone I've otherwise met in real life and spent enough time with to make the connection on CouchSurfing. I'd like to keep it that way, so please don't add me as a friend if we have never met in real life. Thanks. 🙂

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on Couchsurfing because I tend to travel alone and I tend to be a bit shy about meeting strangers out and about. With Couchsurfing, you can find people you are likely to get along with and introduce yourself to them, and then hang out with them and even maybe be hosted by them wherever you end up going in the world. I've met so many wonderful people in my life through CouchSurfing, some of whom momentary passers-by for a fun meet-up and others who have become lifelong friends, and I hope to meet many many more. 😊

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've participated by being a user: hosting, being hosted, and generally meeting with cool CSers wherever I go. 😎

For anyone kind enough to host me: know that I fully understand the magnitude of bringing a stranger into your home, and I will absolutely respect the rules of your home,and treat it, according to your wishes, better than my own home. You are not a hotel. You are not a charity. You are the person or people who are being so extremely kind enough as to let me have a place to stay while I hang out with you. I appreciate that, and hope that I will leave you feeling glad you took me in. 😊

For anyone I host (when I am in a position to host people): My home will be your temporary home. Please treat it well. Maybe take a look at what I wrote above for my potential hosts and keep that kind of attitude in mind. Cheers. 🙂

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

*Unofficial*
1998: While traveling around the US on a bicycle, a random guy in Jacksonville, FL, and a couple of students at SCAD in Savannah, GA offered me their couches.
2003: When I was traveling around Japan on a bicycle, a random guy I met at an okonomiyaki shop in Kyoto offered me his couch.

*Official*
I couchsurfed my way across the UK, France, and Spain from May to October 2006. I was hosted by a lot of great people and made a lot of really good friends. I hosted for the year that I lived in Morocco and had a lot of really great people come to stay with me. I then went back to being hosted when I hit the road again, staying with CSers in Germany, Thailand, and Malaysia. I've lived in Bangkok since 2007, and for the first few years was active in the local CS scene attending meetups and events, but drifted away and have been inactive the last several years. I'm back to being a nomad again, and looking to meet wonderful hosts in the various countries I visit until I find a place to settle down again. :)

Interests

Photography, Biology, Science in general, Long Distance Running, Travel, Guitar, Language, Reading, Writing, Snowboarding, Sailing, Cooking, Computers, Internet, Music, mountains, the ocean, etc. Really, too many to list here. Pretty much a large amount of life, the universe, and everything. I am fascinated by the universe.

• animals
• wildlife
• photography
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• reading
• hiking
• scuba diving
• sailing
• biology
• science
• mountains
• nature
• wilderness
• forests
• reading books
• gaming
• sea
• ocean
• marine biology
• wild animals
• coffee shops
• nature conservation
• wildlife conservation
• long distance running
• pc gaming
• good coffee
• evolutionary biology
• pokemon go
• wildlife photography

Music, Movies, and Books

I love a wide variety of all of these things. Here's where-about I fall on each:

MUSIC:
Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rock, Alternative, Video Game, Classical, epic or inspiring soundtracks, etc. Really, too much to try to list, and there is stuff I like and don't like in pretty much every genre. In general, I don't like much country, modern pop (unless it's being given the Postmodern Jukebox treatment), club music / EDM, etc. I've got around 10k songs on my iPod; you are welcome to scroll through it and get a better idea. And I'm very open to hearing anything new and giving it a chance. 😎

MOVIES: for genres, I guess I mainly go for science fiction, fantasy, comic book / superhero movies, and the like. I want well-told stories, like-able or at least fleshed-out characters, amazing settings, and a good soundtrack, though I get that most movies won't deliver on all of that. A list of the movies I like would fill several pages, and generally I'm open to watching most things at least once, unless something has really turned me off about it.

BOOKS: in a way, rather similar to my movie tastes, though strangely I've never got into reading comic books. I mainly read sci-fi, fantasy, action, and comedy, with a number of science books as well. I do read a lot and I read pretty fast. The most important thing is good writing, where the author gets out of the way and lets me get into the story. The most important things to that are well-written characters, natural dialog, and a good feel for what to describe and what to leave out. Favorite authors include Stephen King, Douglas Adams, James S.A. Corey, Isaac Asimov, Haruki Murakami, Arthur C. Clarke, Larry Niven, J.R.R. Tolkein, J.K. Rowling, etc. I also read a lot of rather unknown authors of varying quality. I carry my library with me in my Kindle wherever I go, and it has several hundred books on it. I also enjoy reading some research papers for run, mainly focusing on evolution, marine biology, animal behavior, and whatever else happens to catch my interest.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I completed my first full marathon (42.2km) in 4hrs29min on 14 February 2016 at the 1st ever Chiang Mai University Marathon in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While that time is not the fastest, I was mainly looking to complete the race and would have been thrilled to complete it in under 5hrs, so I'm rather happy with that time. It is the hardest single thing I've ever done in my life, and among the most satisfying. 😎🏃🏻💪🏻

Otherwise, oh so many things: 3 multi-thousand km bicycle journeys (eastern US, Japan, EU), snowboarding in Hokkaido, carrying my own pack up Phu Kradueng in Thailand, nightswimming in the Mediterranean near Barcelona, exploring the ruins of the ancient Roman City of Volubilis in Morocco, scuba diving, sailboat racing, and so on and so on. Let's hang out and talk about it. 😎

Teach, Learn, Share

Random thing: How to order a draft Beer in Japanese: "nama biiru kudasai." (pronounce it like you are pronouncing Spanish)
I am happy to teach anything I can that you want to know. I'm happy to learn anything you are willing to teach. Sharing comes naturally from both.

What I Can Share with Hosts

In my past CouchSurfing experiences, it was my usual thing to offer to cook for my hosts, and that usually went over well. I can cook a few Japanese dishes, a few Greek-style family recipes, and can even improvise fairly well (even cooking vegetarian if that happens to suit my hosts, though I feel my best cooking involves meat). Few things are more human and promote a greater sense of well-being and friendship than sharing a meal, and it is deeply satisfying when I can provide that meal. 😊

I have been a high school biology teacher for the past 9 years, and I do love biology. If anyone happens to need any tutoring or just wants to talk biology, I will be ecstatic to share my knowledge. And I will more than gladly expand my knowledge if any hosts have more experience and knowledge than me. No doubt we can have some interesting discussions. 🤓

I am an amateur photographer, and will be more than happy to do any photography for my hosts and will of course share any pictures I take with them. It is generally my policy to not post pictures of other people online without their permission, so I will give you copies of the pictures I take and you can choose what you wish to do with them. 🙂

And, of course I will be more than happy to help out with any chores, errands, handy-work, etc. that I am capable of doing around the house, should anything need doing. If you are kind enough to host me, then I will do all I can (including staying out of your way and not being a nuisance) to not interfere with your life and to make a positive impact. Cheers. 😎

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Morocco, Thailand, United States

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