I'm Maxim, a guy who accidentally became a global trotter. After graduation, I've realized that I might fit in better somewhere else. So, I made the best decision in my life - to explore the world and travel as much as I can. After all, I always wanted to enjoy life and learn something new every day. I got a backpack and a one-way ticket to go far far away from home. No plans. Just a pure desire for an adventure.

Since then, I've been traveling the world: backpacked and hitchhiked across China, India, and Southeast Asia for nine months (back in 2015-2016); made six months trip through Balkans, Turkey and Georgia almost right after that. I have had the greatest time of my life!

Traveling for two years on a low budget offered me a deep perspective of life and how it can be different... Show empathy to strangers, be more compassionate to the people you meet, take care of animals and nature, enjoy the moment; at the end of a day you realize that there's no need to have many things to be truly happy.

Being a digital nomad was cool but sooner or later everyone needs a break. I've chosen to settle down in China, at least for a while. I've been living here for two years now. New culture, new life... great experience!

I have made some friends through CS. And I was helped and hosted by so many amazing people during my first big trip. It's time for payback. Although I would like to host more these days, it is not that easy due to my busy schedule and work on the weekends. Anyway, feel free to send me a 'last-minute' request.

DM:
WeChat - 1) Guilian20170726Gong; 2) MaxIshimnikov (mostly I use the first account)
Telegram @imvim

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It's quite obvious, isn't it? I want to see the world without any prejudice and stereotypes. Meet people. Share stories. Have a great time!

Interests

• animals
• photography
• dancing
• beer
• coffee
• clubbing
• politics
• comics
• board games
• traveling
• cycling
• sports
• history
• science
• art
• cinema
• nature

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Reading is rarely a waste of time. Because of that I read everything: from 'Crime and Punishment' by F. Dostoevsky to 'The Killing Joke' by Alan Moore; from 'Republic' by Plato to 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac; from 'The Ego and His Own' by Max Stirner to 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote, etc. Sometimes I try to write by myself (nonfiction).

Movies: I like an independent production. And it seems to me that The Auteur Theory exalts cinematograph as a great art. However, sometimes I can pass the time watching some action movie. My favorite contemporary directors: David Lynch, Bruno Dumont, Michael Haneke, Richard Kelly and Nicolas Winding Refn. Classics: Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Luis Bunuel, Michelangelo Antonioni, John Cassavetes, François Truffaut and Stanley Kubrick.

TV-Shows: The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Twin Peaks, Fargo, Lost, Prison Break, Band of Brothers, Homeland, House of Cards, Mr. Robot, Mad Men, Daredevil, Entourage, Better Call Saul, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, Boardwalk Empire, Narcos, Rome, Suits, American Horror Story, Scrubs, Monty Python, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, South Park, Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, Horace and Pete.

Music: I'm not a melomaniac. Depending on the mood I listen to classic music by Chopin, Tchaikovsky etc. or XX's Chuck Berry, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Cocteau Twins, Nick Cave, NIN, Massive Attack. Or some modern stuff like Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz, The xx, Burial.

Countries I’ve Lived In

China