CURRENT MISSION

To figure out who I want to be.

ABOUT ME

What can I say about myself? I am currently trying to see, try, and learn as much as possible so that when the time comes when I have to make serious life-altering choices I'll have a better idea what I want. Ironically enough, experiencing all these things is changing me a lot more than the mythical choices probably will but that is perfectly fine with me.

PHILOSOPHY

I try to never say something unless I really believe it, never make a promise unless I intend to keep it, never assume that a situation is beyond hope, and never pick an option simply because it is easier. I believe I am doing better at keeping to these principles than the average person but I definitely have room for improvement.

I also believe that a person never stops evolving and the only way for us to become who we want to be is by turning to our past decision and figuring out which ones we regret.

Oh, I am also convinced that punctuality is a virtue which is rather unfortunate because I often end up being friends with people who treat it more like a vice that needs to be eradicated.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I haven't had a chance to host or surf yet but I am hoping that will change soon.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Not much direct experience yet but quite often when I meet someone new that I like, they turn out to be a couchsurfer and I find that quite amazing.

Interests

I find so many things fascinating and want to try all of them but, unsurprisingly, I never have enough time. As far as "serious" hobbies go (i.e. things I've been more persistent in)- I try to go hiking at least a couple of times every year (most often just short 2-4 day hikes) and I have been playing roleplaying games whenever I get the chance for over seven years now.

I also played rugby on my college's team for about a year and that taught me two things: one- I am a horrible rugby player, and two- serious team sports are a lot of fun and I want to keep doing it.

• walking
• team sports
• hiking
• skiing
• snowshoeing
• sports
• rugby
• geography
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Maybe the only thing that I can come close to picking a favourite in is movies- it's either "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Braveheart". While I think the first one is a great movie in pretty much every respect, I don't really know why I like Braveheart, I just know that I've been in love with it ever since the first time I saw it as a kid.

Books: The best books I've read in the past year are "The Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny and "His Master's Voice" by Stanislaw Lem. I won't even try to pick a favourite book because my taste in literature is constantly changing but I have consistently been interested in fantasy and science fiction (increasingly less in the former and more in the latter as time goes on). I also hope to get my Russian up to a good enough level to start reading Classical Russian literature in the near future. I am especially interested in "Evgeni Onegin" but I don't think I am close to being able to read something so complicated.

Music: I guess my preferred genre is rock/metal and as if that isn't vague enough I should note that rock/metal makes up no more than 30-40% of my music. Just naming artists I like off the top off my head (without any particular order)- Pink Floyd, Scorpions, Era, Dropkick Murphy's, Iron Maiden, Балканджи (Bulgarian), Regina Spektor, Любэ (Russian), Meatloaf... well, I guess I could keep going but that feels like more than enough names.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Not all that incredible but I am pretty proud of this three day hike in the Green Mountains (Vermont, USA) that I did back in the spring of 2007. We made the mistake of going there in the early spring (i.e. before the snow had melted) so we ended up hiking about 20 mi/30 km through 2 ft/60 cm of snow. Walking with snowshoes is so difficult yet so fun, especially when you are almost skiing down steep slopes on melting snow, your snowshoe catches on a root and you end up tumbling down to the bottom of the hill.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach: You know, I always feel like I don't have any interesting skills or valuable insights. I'd have to think about this some more.

I want to learn: Game Theory, massaging, (more) geography, where the sunrise is most beautiful, what makes me happy, what makes other people happy, whether absolute truth exists,... (yes, they are getting vaguer and vaguer).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bulgaria, Hungary, United States