"Martino is a romantic--his words, his writing, his actions."
Ross Connard (I hosted him)

"James Franco has to envy Martino for having such a great face and spirit"
Inma Mateos Aguilar (I hosted her)

"relaxed and humorous"
Pawel Jablonski (my ex collegue)

"have a lot of funny anecdote about his life"
Paolo Fedeli (my ex school mate)

"he's also one of those rare people with a great sense of humor"
Littlehappysun (my ex gf (don't read her last reference!))

"he can make me laugh in someway"
Marco Pi (one of my best friends)

"Stop telling I look like him!"
Chris Cornell

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STOP! It's important: I'm not a movie! I'm a guy: sometimes serious, sometimes funny, sometimes serious and funny at the same time. I can look serious at first, but I'm not. I guess sometimes I need to understand if I like the person... so if after two days I still look serious, I don't like you!

My name is Martino, Giacomo, Anacleto, Zaccaria, and *Sereno... unfortunately, now I'm serious: those names are the result of having two crazy hippie parents. But please, call me just Martino.
(*Sereno in Italian means "calm". They called me Sereno because when I was born, I didn't cry...)

I feel like I'm half Italian and half Spanish.
Italian because I wake up singing, eat pasta or pizza and ice cream every day, have been to Formentera, play football, and think Italy is the most beautiful country in the world.
But I'm not 100% Italian because I don't like coffee, don't wear sunglasses indoors, left home before 40, don't promise eternal love to every girl I kiss, can talk without screaming like Pavarotti, and I pay taxes.
Spanish because I lived in London, have never been to Portugal, like beer with Fanta lemon, have more days off than working days, will do ANYthing "mañana", and love second-hand stuff.
But I'm not 100% Spanish because I don't add an annoying "e" to English words starting with "s", don't need a siesta, can leave a pub/bar/restaurant/disco/home sober, enjoy reading books, and don't think Spanish food is the best cuisine in the world (not even in the top 5).

But very often, I feel like I'm from another world! I'm not 100% human because I don't have any odor (maybe because I don't sweat), have a sixth sense (but I think I'm half deaf), don't have regrets, there's no filter between my mouth and brain, can stand up and run half a second after I wake up (but why to do?), am a happy person and not self-destructive, and always know where the north is (I think I have a tree inside), despite normally I prefer the south.

Nina, who keeps saying every day that she's my mother, is Spanish and lives in Ibiza. She is a dangerous woman. She taught me to think with my brain, always. And also that it's better to be really angry for 10 minutes than annoyed for 10 days.
Gimmi, who (surprise, surprise) could actually be my father, is Italian and lives by Lake Garda, in the north of Italy. He is a quiet man. He taught me not to be envious, ever. And that it's not worth being angry even for 10 minutes.

Someone told me that I'm cruel because I've always called my parents by their names instead of "mama" or "papa" since I was a child... I think the same! It's terrible; therefore, my children will never know even one of my 5 names!

I grew up in hippie Ibiza but moved to posh Toscolano Maderno (near Verona, Italy) when I was 14, then to romantic Rome when I was 19. I also lived for 8 months in crazy Barcelona (2009) and 8 in busy London (2011). Then paradise Mallorca since 2012. In 2023, I moved again to solo Barcelona but only for one semester, to confirm that Mallorca is my place.

PHILOSOPHY

Somnio ergo sum

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

If I am not wrong, I have been part of this community since 2005, back when people were here to meet foreigners and share backgrounds.

I love meeting new people, so when I host or meet someone, it's because I hope to connect with an interesting person. Sorry if I'm not just a saint who offers a sofa to any random person. I wish I had that heart!

Some declined surfers, who didn't like my cold responses, told me this website is only for helping others find nice and free accommodation. So you should know that I will be "rude" and try to speak with you and spend some time together! If you plan to avoid me, spend your day alone, and come back just to sleep... skip my profile!

In recent years, I feel treated like a free hostel. So here are some rules:

I don't offer breakfast and check-in can't be before 8 am.
If you want a pick-up from the airport... many other hosts offer that! I will be more than happy to take you around IF I have time and IF I want to, but I don't have a taxi license yet.

I give A LOT of importance to the request. I think I am allergic to copy-and-paste requests; every time I read one, my eyes start burning.

I don't like couchsurfing anymore. If I am still here, it's just because I don't dislike it enough to delete my profile, and its cost is still cheap.

This community used to be great; I met a LOT of GREAT people, but something has changed. There are still really great people but it takes longer to find them.

Every day, I get 5-6 boring copy-and-paste requests from people with empty profiles and no references, asking for a place to crash and wanting to know if I live close to the center.

I find it SO stupid. Your host will be a big part of your holidays, so you should care about finding the right one.
When I send a request, I always consider why my host should choose me instead of anyone else, or no one at all :)

Two funny things:

Some people did not like MY copy-and-paste negative responses to their boring requests and blocked me. The "Couchsurfing Trust and Safety team" wrote me an email saying that they might need to block my profile as I may be dangerous!

If you write me a boring request, I will probably decline it within the next hour. Declining an amazing request takes me much more time as I don't like boring answers! So if you are in a hurry, write me a boring request so I can decline it immediately.

For me, the most shocking but also interesting thing is when people have read my profile but still send me a tasteless request. When people are boring, there is not much to do, I guess.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1) I had just served five years in prison (for a crime I did not commit) when I kidnapped a young tap dancer and forced her to be my wife. My idea was to kill a fucking bastard and then myself but she changed me and I tried to start a new life with her.

2) I had devised a plan with my friends to get revenge on a dyslexic boy who had hurt me: the idea was to leave him naked in a river. During the day we realized that although he was annoying, he was very lonely and had the capacity to be kind and caring. But we killed him accidentally.

3) I had invited my family for Thanksgiving dinner, probably the last for my mother, who had a breast cancer. The preparations for the meal were a near disaster when I discovered my oven was broken. With the help of various neighbors, I managed to assemble dinner.

4) When I was a teenager I met a girl, older than me, in a wedding. She was the wife of my best friend's cousin. My friend and I invited her to come with us in a secluded beach, initially she had declined but then changed her mind. We drove through Mexico passing the time by talking about our relationships and sexual experiences. It was my first threesome.

5) I was searching for research material for my thesis on audio-visual violence when I found my teacher, which was helping me, dead in the screening room. I retrieved the tape and it ended up to be a snuff film, my colleague recognised a former student of my university, who went missing two years previously.

Ok, of course I'm not talking about my life but about movies....lets see if you know their titles, if no one don't worry, it's not a test, it's just for fun!
If you got scared and did not ready til here ....enjoy life!

Teach, Learn, Share

I do many things quite well but no one perfectly, so I have some to teach and much to learn!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Rwanda, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Spain, United Kingdom

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