CURRENT MISSION

Meet new friends and broaden my understanding of people and cultures

ABOUT ME

I am probably a lot like you, really! I love travelling. I love making new friends all over the world. I like to experience other cultures and to challenge myself.People are too complex to sum up in a paragraph or two, but I'll tell you some things that are the basics.

I have just come back from about 30 months of travelling and studying overseas. I know how important it is to meet nice people while you're travelling and how enjoyable it is when somebody treats you with generosity.

Since I am home in Melbourne, I have been working in the... tourism industry!

Actually, I am the manager of a hostel called Habitat HQ in St Kilda. If by any chance anybody reading this is sitting in my hostel lounge room (yes, I often see people browsing profiles) then you should send me a message and I can come and say "Hi" and we can do something together in St Kilda (cafe, bar, Sunday market, Luna Park, see the penguins).

I immensely enjoy travelling and meeting people from different cultures. Whether it is for 10 minutes or 10 months, I try to make the most out of any personal experience that I am lucky enough to have. To me, a night in a shed in the middle of a farm with a small group of really interesting people is more exciting than jumping out of a plane by myself. I'll probably still do both.I am an amateur: photographer, karaoke singer, bicycle rider, body surfer, dancer, chef, polyglot, economist, runner, blogger, friend, psychologist and a bunch more. I am not exceptional in any of these pursuits, but I do enjoy them!I think I can be a lot of different things to different people. I try to adapt to my situation. Some people might find me to be quiet and respectful. Somebody else might think that I'm a raging party animal that goes out until sunrise every day. In truth I think we are all a little bit of everything, and the part that shines reflects the relationship you are building with each other.

Other than that... I think that values are more important than the qualities that you can't change. Which country you are born in, what you look like, your job... these things are less important.

So, some of my values:
- I think that understanding other cultures is essential if you want to be a citizen of this world.
- Language is the gateway to understanding.
- I have an opinion on everything. Sometimes it is nice to talk about more serious topics - I enjoy thinking and being challenged to think.
- I am a pacifist (anti-violence). I do not fight or raise my voice towards anybody.
- I try to make people feel welcome and comfortable around me.
- Couchsurfing is not a dating site...
- I try to be generous with my friends and the people around me... to give more than I take.
- Health is important to me. Fresh air, exercise, healthy food.

PHILOSOPHY

Travel the world, shaping my personality through the various perspectives of other people, from other cultures.. trying to discover the source of my own happiness.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I go to occasional CS group meetings, host some travellers, surf a bit myself, and in general just give a lot of love to anybody who is part of the CS community.I think showing up in a foreign city and being able to meet somebody for the first time, knowing that you will be friends straight away - it's just such a cool thing!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have met some fantastic people at CS meetings around Europe, and have hosted a few people at my places in Utrecht, Melbourne and Uppsala.

Interests

Travel, photography, healthy eating, unhealthy eating, exercise, film, music, politics, economics, karaoke, parties, talking, staying out late, sleeping in, sunrise, sunset, life experiences, behaviour, making plans for the future... and sometimes, vodka with lime.

• animals
• photography
• dancing
• dining
• exercise
• partying
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• piano
• karaoke
• economics
• languages
• psychology
• religion
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Fight Club, Snatch, Remember the Titans, Bad Boys 1&2, Transporter... I really like 'action/comedy' but I'm pretty open to watching anything.

Music: pop/rock/indie/techno/house/folk/dub/other? Favourites right now would be Phoenix, Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Caribou, Tallest Man on Earth, Girl Talk, Boemklatsch, Swedish-electro house producers like Axwell, Tim Berg (Avicii), Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso.

Books: embarrassingly I don't read a lot, possibly because I spend too much time watching movies. Sometimes I tell people its because I have too many study-related books to read...but I don't usually read those either :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

These days I am amazed pretty easily, narrowing it down to one thing would be pretty tough!
To use a broad brushstroke, Europe has completely blown me away, exceeded all of my expectations in every way (except perhaps the cold winter weather!)
Riding a motorbike in Vietnam, especially up to the mountain towns was really awesome (and I highly recommend it even if you can't ride a motorbike... just like I couldn't)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can definitely teach English, I really love speaking with people who have learned it as a second (third, fourth or fifth) language because I am just so impressed by them! I find languages really difficult, so if you can teach me how to say 'how are you?' then we are probably doing well.

Due to many late nights on wikipedia I know some really random stuff that I would be happy to share with you. I am happy to talk about pretty much anything, but society, politics, economics and religion are some favourites. Not in a boring/school way, more in a 'look how the world is' sort of way.

I would love to learn some guitar/piano or Spanish/Dutch//French - but I don't have a lot of confidence in myself with learning languages so you would have to be patient.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Laos, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Netherlands, Sweden

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