We will be traveling through Portugal and Spain from Sept 7-20. Currently we are looking for hosts and/or locals to hang with in Lisbon, Porto, Seville, Granada and Madrid. Please reach out if you want! Happy travels.

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(Michael) I first discovered CouchSurfing while living in Krakow Poland. A friend and I had opened a hostel called The Stranger, and ended up running it for about four years before we had to close it down. So aside from the couchsurfers I've hosted personally, I've met too many travelers to count - and I've enjoyed meeting everyone of them.

I've been living in St Louis for several years now, where I met my wife Nicolette. We have a four year old boy named Ridley, who has travelled with us to Costa Rica and throughout the US. We are considering the possibility of moving abroad next year, and will be exploring Portugal and Spain in September for a potential relocation.

We'd love to meet locals while we travel, so if you're not able to host but want to meet up for a bite or a drink, please reach out!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I started out hosting guests through Couchsurfing while living in Krakow. A friend and I took a bicycle trip through the Netherlands in 2007, staying with other Couchsurfers as we traveled.

I've always enjoyed hosting, but having stayed as a guest with others, the generosity I've experienced from people who open their homes - often on a day's notice - has given me a different perspective on what the couch surfing experience can be. What more to say? Too much...so perhaps we'll meet up and trade a few stories.

Interests

Nico and I both play music and love meeting other musicians. As a software programmer, I am also interested in digital interactive and installation art. Nico loves to cook and learn about the local food culture.

• coffee
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• sailing
• art
• food
• sustainability
• theatre
• bicycling

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - too much to name. As of late....
Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Yann Tierson, Amon Tobin, Icelandic Post-rock, Balkan/Gypsie-beats, Piatnica, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, Astor Piazolla, Caetano Veloso, Arto Lindsay, the list goes on....

Recent reads: "Shantaram" by David Greggory, "54" by Wu Ming Foundation (anarchist collective out of Italy), "Street of Crocodiles" by Bruno Shultz, "The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende, "Killing Commendatore" by Haruki Murakami, "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi, "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu.

Recent favorite movies: "Everything Everywhere All at Once", "Good Luck To You, Leo Grande"
Favorite binge shows: "Better Call Saul" and "Westworld"

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I smuggled my business partner back into Poland after he was deported.

Teach, Learn, Share

Better shared in personal conversations...

What I Can Share with Hosts

We're happy to cook you a meal or take you out to dinner.

Countries I’ve Visited

Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Poland, United States

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