CURRENT MISSION

A random quest for the good stuff in life

ABOUT ME

I am Mediterranean by birth, appearance, inclination and spirit but live in a northern European city – the big bad Smoke. Quite why I am here in London instead of, say, Barcelona, or Damascus or New York is not totally clear to me sometimes, but I am sure fate knows what it's doing even when we don't. I accidentally became a graphic designer and keep at it for the moment, sometimes half-heartedly, sometimes with passion. All that matters to me is my freedom (I am my own boss) and making enough money to make sure I keep it. I love to travel, which I am sure applies to everyone in here. I dote on my friends, old and new. I skate around town, weather permitting, or cycle, and wander around exhibition openings and musical events with glee and never-ending curiousity – although sometimes I get jaded, London does that to you. I love food and wine – I am truly Italian like that. My life is here for now, but it's by no means the last port of call.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am new here, but I have already had a fantastically serendipitous weekend in Amsterdam where I made two brilliant new friends all thanks to CS, so you bet I am sold and will do my best to put back in as much as I can.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Always a full house. Three children in my household, the blessing of a country house big enough plus understanding, hospitable parents, and there you have it. Then at university, in Italy and Spain and England, I don't think there ever was a weekend without someone flying in from somewhere else and needing to be put up or being quite simply too wasted to go home. Later in my adult life, the years spent in the countryside chopping logs and drawing water from a well – in a huge crumbling pile of an old farmhouse that had room for a coachload of friends and friends of friends of friends. And as for London, I have even gone and stayed at other friends in town at times because there were too many friends needing shelter at the same time and giving them my flat was the easiest option.

Interests

Photography, drawing, skating, yoga

• animals
• wildlife
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• dining
• wine
• yoga
• flying
• traveling
• drawing
• cycling
• hiking
• track and field
• hitchhiking

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A trip to Kenya from Somalia, the convoy abandoned us and the radiator started boiling over which is not great in a country with little water and then the steering wheel broke in middle of the savannah so we had to get off at every bend in the track and turn the wheels ourselves until it just didn't feel that safe nor, indeed, at all effective... ended up waiting for the rescuers (we were hopeful someone had noticed our disappearance) on the roof of the jeep under a full moon, with the cries of the animals piercing the night around us. It was morning when they came, and I was almost disappointed to see them... one of the best nights in my life. The trek to Machu Picchu. A 30km walk in the Syrian desert at night-time, followed by hitch-hiking to Palmyra the next day. A night in a wildlife reserve in the middle of Somerset, England. Sleeping in the Sahara. Skating Shanghai, Xian, Beijing, the Sinai. And other stuff that's too personal and astounding for me to make it public.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, China, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Western Sahara

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Somalia, Spain, United Kingdom

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