CURRENT MISSION

Around the world overland since September 2012. Sharing, growing and healing together. Everything is connected.
www.teacherontheroad.com

ABOUT ME

Namaste!

My name is Nicolas Genna and I have always been thriving for Freedom, even when I was not fully aware of it yet. We all do somehow. I'm a citizen of the world and I've been travelling overland around the globe for the last 7 years without going back to the country I used to call "home" (France). After all, home is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and most importantly, Home is actually what we already have within the boundaries of our physical body.
I started my long quest in France in September 2012 without money (by choice) after leaving the routine of a more conventional life behind, in which I mainly used to work as physical education teacher and English teacher in government schools and universities, and as a professional basketball coach for 12 years. Of course, everything is a matter of balance and I've shift cycles many times along the way as I'm now travelling in a very different way compared to that of the beginning of my long voyage.
I've travelled about 50 countries and lived, volunteered and worked in 12 countries so far (France, Holland, New Zealand, Australia, India, Nepal, Japan, Canada, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador). I'm now in Peru after having journeyed about 100,000 km (including 30,000 km hitchhiking) in 31 countries (in this journey) through Europe, the Middle East, Asia, all the way to Japan, and then from Alaska to the South. I'm intending to get to Patagonia by the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020, before hitting the road back up to Brazil.
My website: www.teacher-on-the-road.com

Throughout my evolution, I quickly understood that I would not be able to fit in any "groups" that society wanted me to choose and although I have had fantastic experiences as a professional sportsperson and as a professor amidst a myriad of many other jobs in a multitude of places, I overall just wanted to become myself, claiming that "success" is eventually a very relative and subjective concept.
I just stepped out, hoping that I could become anything but what society called "normality". And I have ever since become a free electron in the Universe despite the fact that Everything and Everyone is intimately connected through the concept of Oneness or Collective Consciousness.

We often hear about the idea that we are the Light (which is surely true) but there also exists a latent delusion about it in a sense that we tend to forget that the amount of light we possess is proportionally equal to the amount of darkness we have to deal with. We can't fully become light in our human experience if we're not able to embrace the darkness we have within.

I believe that unconditional Love and compassion are the answer as much as Quantum Physics is and that this answer has to be found inside of us and not outside. Then, digging up down the rabbit hole is the only thing we can possibly do in order to think out of the box and have both a human experience in a spiritual body and a spiritual experience in a human body.
The brain is a receiver and we just channel creativity through ourselves. Yet, it is up to us to react to an experience given to us and make the best out of it. Each and every of us has a distinct Path but we are all heading in the same energetical direction.

THE JOURNEY...

Until July 2012, I had been working as a government school teacher in France (Physical Education and English) and as a University of Cambridge English teacher in Amsterdam.
After having worked for more than 10 years in established institutions, such as a professional basketball coach, general educator, Physical Education teacher, English teacher or even as an astronomy teacher in the French educational system, I made the spontaneous decision to quit my "normal" life and to hit the road for an overland journey around the world. It would last for an indefinite amount of time, with the firm intention to participate as little as I could in the current monetary and societal model.

I closed my bank account and started my trip with 400 Euros just for the visas and border crossings on the way.
I had neither any proper plans nor real expectations of where the cosmic winds would take me. I just knew that I would head towards the East overland around the globe, permanently adapting and re-adjusting things and shifting cycles on my way, It would depend on the quantic possibilities I would run into, and how both my heart and the Universe would guide me on my path.

I began my quest on September 22nd 2012 from Nice, France, and managed to hitchhike more than 10,000 km through the whole Europe, Turkey, Iran before getting in India, where I then stayed for a while. Meanwhile, I did not spend any of my money aside from a couple of very rare exception (such as the Iranian visa in Turkey or its extension later in Iran).
In fact, it even sounds insane to me sometimes. My first idea was that I would travel around the entire globe during about 2 or 3 years without money apart for the border crossings and visas.

I have still not given up of finishing my journey around the world though.
After 2 years and a half of having put the geographical aspect of my long voyage on the back burner (from late 2015 to early 2018) between North America and Mexico, I am finally on the road again in South America and feel truly delighted to surrender to the magic of the Unknown again as I also complete the writing of my books and share some healing services along my way. (check out the "Services" tab).
I have long learnt and accepted that everything is possible when we leave our comfort zone because that is where the Magic happens. And when we are attuned with ourselves, both inwardly and outwardly, everything becomes possible and we can then materialise whatever we need and especially love in life. It is all about the Intention.

Check out my website/blog/photography: www.teacher-on-the-road.com
Facebook Page: Teacher on the Road
Facebook Profile: Niko Genna Indigo

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

After having been very active through CS when I was living in Amsterdam, I'm now experiencing it in a different way, by couchsurfing around the world.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I decided to register when I moved to Amsterdam and lived there for one year in 2011, and I used to host a few people there, as well as to organise and participate in local events.
I've surfed a lot all the way overland through Europe, Turkey and Iran, and more recently (2014) in China, Mongolia and Russia.

Interests

I have too many passions to be properly enumerated, but some of them include music, nature, art, quantum physics, languages, cultures, languages, sciences, spirit & consciousness, shamanism, astronomy, astrology, healing, cosmology & ancient history & civilisations, health & nutrition and open-minded people of course. I am interested in anything that can link an open-mind form of Western Science with the wisdom of ancient cultures and civilisations. I believe that the answers we need to thrive as a human being reside in both Spirit and Science and not only one of the two as most people tend to focus on.

• culture
• writing
• books
• singing
• photography
• perfumes
• education
• dining
• cooking
• marathon
• coach
• meditation
• flying
• off-roading
• reading
• traveling
• blogging
• magic
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• adventure races
• scuba diving
• sports
• basketball
• anthropology
• astronomy
• communications
• teaching
• emergency services
• history
• languages
• medicine
• physics
• psychology
• science
• sociology
• hitchhiking
• beaches
• last minute travel

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC:

Things like...Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jack Johnson, Muse, Coldplay, The Beatles, Audioslave, Blur, Tracy Chapman, Radiohead, MGMT, David Bowie, Angus and Julia Stone, Buddha-Bar, John Lennon, Empire of the Sun, Johnny Cash, Eddie Vedder, Bob Marley, Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Sublime, Noir Desir, Pete Murray, Aretha Franklin, Anika Moa, Jamiroquai, Cafe Del Mar, Patrice, U2 (1987-2000), Ben Harper, Fat Freddy's Drop, Daft Punk, Air, Katchafire, Nirvana, Playing for Change and many more.

BOOKS:

Things like...DMT the spirit molecule, Cloud Atlas, The Dharma bums, On the Road, The Diceman, The Power of Now, The Alchemist, The little Prince, The Call of the Wild, Into the wild, The Beach, The doors of perception _I'm a big Aldous Huxley fan_, The Tibetan book of the dead, Angels and demons, Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion _I love Tolkien as well_, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potters and many others.

MOVIES:

Things like...Cloud Atlas, Thrive, La Belle Verte, The Zeitgeist series, Into the Wild, Fight Club, DMT the spirit molecule, The beach, Dead Poets Society, Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter...and Spring again, Samsara, Inner Worlds-Outer Worlds, anything by Graham Hancock, Casteway on the Moon, 50 First Dates, The Matrix trilogy, Requiem for a Dream, The whale rider, Into the void, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Braveheart, Amelie, Trainspotting, The Butterfly Effect, American beauty, Walk The Line, 12 Monkeys and some more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I worked as a fisherman in New Zealand, being at sea for 2 months in a row, 90 hours of work per week with no day off or else in a crocodile park in Western Australia.

I lived, worked and substantially travelled in New Zealand and Australia, from February 2005 to May 2007, which was a profoundly life-changing experience.

I've been living out of a backpack 10 out of last 14 years as I don't have many "possessions".

I've had more than 30 very different jobs so far, in many countries, such as teacher in varied subjects, professional coach, waiter, bartender, fruit-picker, cleaner, lifeguard, fisherman, hotel manager and gardener.

Following a last-minute trip suggestion, a friend taught me how to ride a 250cc motorbike in 45 minutes on a vacant lot of Kathmandu. In the following morning, I embarked on a 700km motorbike trip in the Himalayas, including 350km off-road.
I spent the night of 21/12/2012 camping on my own in the Kharanagh Desert, Iran.

I've body-boarded in the remnants of a cyclone in Australia.

I hiked to the Magic Bus _Into the Wild_ in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness and honored the memory of Chris McCandless for a couple of days there. Magical energies.

I've done more than 20 different sports and outdoor activities at a "competition level", and I ran my first marathon in 2010, which was a beautiful human experience.
I used to have up to 15 hours of training every week for many years.
I was a professional basketball referee and coach both at the age of 20 (I had started when I was 16), and I started teaching at the Sport and Science University at the age of 22, even though I was still a student myself at the time.

I lived 4 months in my campervan in New Zealand and drove 18000km on both islands.

I've seen a volcano erupting 300m away from me on Reunion Island, and climbed the highest mountain in the Indian Ocean to see the gigantic refraction of the sun rising through the water, 3000m below my feet.

I slept for 3 nights on water taxis in Dubai and one at a police station, which were obviously 4 horrendous sleepless nights.

I slept 4 days on trucks in Turkey in insane conditions, when hitchhiking there.

I randomly met a person on the streets of Prague whilst playing the guitar for 3 hours, with a sign saying that I was homeless and that I needed a place where I could stay for that night! She has become one of my best friends since then.

Busking with my guitar on the streets of Dunedin (NZ), Scarborough (England), Dubai (UAE), Jiujiang (China) and Istanbul (Turkey).

Doing gold panning in Alaska and working as a farm director in the remote mountains of California.

Working for 3 weeks in a weed farm in California in 2015, without shower and by camping in the wet and snow.

Diving in Koh Tao (Thailand) and on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia).

Trekking more than 3000km; in NZ, Reunion Island, Australia, France, Bulgaria, Thailand, Corsica, Japan , India and Nepal (500km on foot and 30 days in the Himalayas, divided in 3 different treks and locations).

Horse-trekking on sandy beaches in New Zealand.

Crossing the Savannah Way (2600 km) in Australia, from Cairns to Darwin, for 16 days, in a 4-wheel drive and camping along the way in the middle of nowhere.

I hitch-hiked 11000km from Nice (France) to Dubai, via Amsterdam and Northern Europe without any money at all (2012).
Also, I hitchhiked from Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) to Vladivostok (Russia), including a detour by Lake Baikal (about 5000 km in total). Then from Alaska to San Fransisco. About 26, 000 km hitchhiking in total so far.

I slept under the stars at 4200m above see level in the Indian Himalayas and at 4800m, in a tent by -10 degrees, because my friends and I got stuck in a snow blizzard on the Trans-Himalayan Road, on the way back to Manali (India).

Trekking solo in the Himalayas: After sleeping at Makalu Base Camp (4900m,Nepali Hamalayas), I climbed a random mountain to see the sunrise, at 5200m above sea level, over Mount Makalu (number 5, 8463m), Lhotse (number 4, 8515m) and the North face of Everest (number 1, 8850m), within 20km of distance.
I had seen the sunset on Mount Kanchenjunga (number 3, 8585m) a few days before.

I hiked to the Magic Bus in Alaska ("Into the Wild") and camped there for a couple of nights

I ran the "show" as a was a farm director at a marijuana farm in Northern California for 2 years.

I picked and ate some Peyote in the desert in Mexico.

I drove all the way from Colombia to the jungle in Peru (up to 4,800m above sea-level), where I took some Ayahuasca there with one of my best friends.

Teach, Learn, Share

In fact, when society tells us to choose a work field and to stick to it for decades, having retirement as being the main perspective of a conventional life, I have chosen the less-travelled Path in any possible ways.
I studied a myriad of varied subjects at University, such as medicine, psychology, sociology, anthropology, nutrition, epistemology, applied sciences and many others always in the profound intent to try to understand the world and the universe both outside and within me.

But what has truly opened my mind towards new cognitive and spiritual horizons, and obviously led me what I have become today, is the fact that I have never stopped being curious and studying by attended the University of Life and the Universe on a permanent basis throughout my many Adventures around the world. It has helped me constantly educate myself in the meantime (since I have obviously had more time for that) in order to think critically and independently about how I could contribute to changing the world.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have many passions as I've made the choices and sacrifices to live them to the fullest.
In fact, I'm a very passionate individual in general as well as trustworthy, reliable, authentic, dedicated, independent, hard-working, determined, careful, thoughtful, empathetic and most of all, I have no filters and am inevitably honest on the emotional level. Yet, I'm still learning a lot about that as part of the process of what I'm teaching to my wonderful students. We never stop learning until our last breath.

I'm a yoga teacher (strong vinyasa, vinyasa flow, Yin, prana/breathing work for all ages and levels), physiotherapist (university), and psychoanalyst (university). I practise Thai massage (certified since 2002- Thailand), holistic therapies (with aromatherapy) and reiki (certified since 2014 - Nepal), I give courses of astronomy, astrology and photography (as well as in the previous fields), and I organise cacao ceremonies and ecstatic dance sessions, among many other sustainable activities.
I play the guitar, sing and play percussions. I love making bonfires and gathering around as a tribe with our head in the cosmos as the Ancients used to do.

Regarding astronomy and astrology, it's essential to understand that they're 2 of the most special things I can share with people because they're rare in the travelling world, especially when it comes to the point of making sense of both fields all together. Amazingly enough, I started studying astronomy at 12 years old (because there was a planetarium in my school) and teaching this field to adults (along with Greek mythology) at 14 years old (also in scientific conferences). I was meant to become an astrophysicist after doing a training at the observatory of Nice (14 years old) but I quickly realised that I wanted to explore life in all its possible aspects instead of just focusing on one field or career.
When it comes to astrology, I can teach people how to connect its aspects to the constellations of the Zodiac and read astral charts. I also connect my yoga practice with astrological aspects.
My students are a mirror of what I've been manifesting in recent years throughout my evolution for there is no teaching without learning on the very same energetical level. Indeed, I do believe that all energies are balanced in this universe and we do receive what we give according to the authenticity of the intention we put in just everything we do.

I also organise some courses and workshops in order to connect all these fields as part of a giant cosmic puzzle, instead of separating them as it's often the case in our current societal model. It's not about the West or the East; it's about both and I believe that the Answer resides in the ultimate combination of the Spirit and Science, both in an open-minded and non-judgemental way.
In fact, I work a lot with the moon cycles (regardless of the physical gender), tantra philosophy (and shadow work) and emotional education as I've been attempting at giving my students some concrete “tools” for them to thrive in both their human and spiritual experiences, since there are inexorably indissociable from one another.
We often hear about the idea that we are the Light (which is surely true) but there also exists a latent delusion about it in a sense that we tend to forget that the amount of light we possess is proportionally equal to the amount of darkness we have to deal with. We can't fully become light in our human experience if we're not able to embrace the darkness we have within.

I believe that healing isn't an easy path to accept for healing others also means having the courage to heal ourselves. Yet, this is what we're here for, along with remembering that love is unconditional and always around us, regardless of the emotional and karmic charge that we bring along with us in this existence. I believe that everything is intimately interconnected, past, present and future together.
We do manifest what we need among the infinity of quantum possibilities in order to learn the lessons we have to learn. We don't have to judge an experience as “positive” or “negative” for again, everything is just perfect as it is. Indeed, we already have all the answers within us.

Overall, I have 20 years of experience in the professional sport and education industries (I used to be a professional basketball and personal coach, and started teaching cognitive sciences at university at 22 years old). I am also a University of Cambridge certified English teacher and am fluent in English, Spanish and French.

Furthermore, I have a substantial experience in the hospitality industry not only as a hostel manager but also working in restaurants and bars when I was younger (especially when living in New Zealand and Australia from 2005 to 2007). I've stayed in many sustainable communities on my way (India, Japan, Alaska, Canada, Guatemala) and have set up and handled three on my own in the last few years in the USA and Mexico, along with permaculture gardening and biodynamics methods.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Russian Federation, Réunion, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Réunion, United States

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