⚠️ DO NOT add people you haven’t met as friends! ⚠️
(There’s some really creepy obsessive stalkers on here, trying to create a social map of connections.)

🇦🇺 Originally Australian, but now….
✈️ I’m currently studying Arabic in Amman in Jordan.
في اللحظة أنا أدرس اللغة عربية في عمان، الأردن 🇯🇴

🌍 I’ve met and stayed with many amazingly good (and also not so good) people around the world — from religious Imams in Iran, to families in Iraq, to a priest in Bosnia, to the most inspiring couples, to those without clothing, to people with stories I’ll never forget. Nothing surprises me anymore, yet every experience is wonderfully new and exciting! One thing CS has taught me though is that….
🙄 Your ‘open-mindedness’ is RELATIVE, with drastically opposing interpretations. For some hosts, open-mindedness means allowing me to wear shorts in the same room as their wife, for others it’s chatting with someone from another religion or political view, or for some it’s about what you wear or not wear, or who you hookup with or not. Thus the term is often based on convenience, hypocritical, and entirely meaningless!

🏡 In 2022 I moved to Istanbul, Turkey; now my home is there for refugees to stay for free. Otherwise I live in Melbourne, and in 2024 I’ll be studying in Jordan.
🏫 Just completed my Masters in International Development at The University of Melbourne, with my background in International Politics & Anthropology.
💼 Now I work in academia and as an English teacher, but I used to work building a dating app, then as an UberEats Cyclist.
📝 I am a writer and poet: https://link.medium.com/6NkRXNmQTeb
🐦 I am also pretty active on Twitter too: https://mobile.twitter.com/spencerbm98
📚 My Goodreads profile is: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/122793608

✈️ I try to travel as much as possible. I love connecting with different people and learning from experiences, which give me practical knowledge for life and my passion in anthropology.

🫱🏼‍🫲🏽 Volunteered in many places, like in aged care in Australia, a cat shelter in Malaysia, or in Indonesia as an advocate and assist the health rights of the kids and also improve the economic development of a village.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

💭 MY PHILOSOPHY:...
📝 There shouldn’t be too many expectations, but, as I say, “the currency of Couchsurfing is REFERENCES”. I put a lot of effort into writing my references for people I meet, so I really hope they can do the same.
👐🏽 Otherwise, I love Couchsurfing because it’s all about becoming a part of and spreading the human chain of kindness :)

MY WHY:.....
👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏽I want to have new and unique experiences, especially by learning from amazing people! I believe that cultural awareness is one of the best things for humanity!
📚 I enjoy applying all of my cultural experiences and YOUR cultural stories and experiences in class at University, as I’m studying Anthropology.

Interests

💖 I’m always driven by new ideas or perspectives, and I love having challenged.

• cats
• culture
• humanitarian relief
• running
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• anthropology
• philosophy
• hitchhiking
• last minute travel
• social justice
• learning new things
• doctor who
• trance music
• apple

Music, Movies, and Books

🎶 I enjoy many different genres depending on my mood, but mostly classical or trance or even Latino for a good dance. Mostly: Ludovico Einaudi, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Emma Hewitt, Gareth Emery.

🎥 Favourite films are ‘Arrival’, ‘Cloud Atlas’ and ‘Moonlight’.

📖 I’ve bought a lot of books, but am a bit slow with reading them all (can someone help haha!?).....they’re always non-fiction books, because I believe that if I fill my brain with something, it should be something that increases my knowledge and hopefully wisdom. I keep this philosophy close to a lot of my actions: thus why I don’t drink or do drugs. I like Nietzsche, any theology and apologetics about Jesus, and simply academic articles.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1️⃣👑 Met the Royal Sultan of Brunei!

2️⃣💥 Went to Ukraine during the war! And stayed on the border of Yemen and Saudi Arabia with bombing at night.

3️⃣🏜️ Hitchhiked along the three largest deserts in the world, and also 1,200km in Oman in one day.

4️⃣🏔️ Hiked 70km in the Andes of Peru!!

5️⃣🛌 Traveled the Middle-East for 6 months and relied solely on Couchsurfing!!! (Didn’t get a hotel.)

Teach, Learn, Share

🧠 I am fascinated by cultural differences around the world and how they compare — as I travel and meet more people I am eager to share and learn more about this, so that hopefully I can become a more open minded and accepting person.

What I Can Share with Hosts

🌐 A unique perspective on the world, from a young free spirit, willing to challenge and break quite a lot of stereotypes.
👥 I am a genuine Couchsurfer. I only visit cities if I have a host, because I learn more about the culture by being with a local person than visiting places alone. The philosophy of Couchsurfing is about kindness, human connection and cultural experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Western Sahara

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Malaysia, Turkey, Viet Nam