CURRENT MISSION

Living on campus in Scotland, unable to host currently.

ABOUT ME

Eyes open, always finding interesting things. Easy-going, worry-free. I like to smile a lot and real widely.
And with getting to share and do everything with my wife Lauren, I tend to have a lot to smile about. Her profile: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/lauren.cook

I'm most interested in matters of history, biology, technology, psychology and philosophy. I juggle these interests with working, studying and my hobbies with varying success and motivation.

I've lived in Turku most of my life, and I really like the city a lot, especially in the summertime, but the cold and darkness of Finland in winter is not too optimal for me, which is why I'm devising plans and means of longer term travel for the future.
Lauren and I both had a really nice time hitchhiking in Finland, and would love to do more of that, it is amazing for the same reasons as couchsurfing is - you really get to connect with all kinds of people from all walks of life, and see that there really is no such thing as "strangers" in this world if you just connect with them, just real friendly people.

PHILOSOPHY

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from.” -Seth Godin

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I believe couchsurfing can be the best way to travel, but requires both the host and the surfer to have the same mindset; that couchsurfing isn't just free boarding, but instead sharing of experiences old and new. The best experiences are always the ones where the traveller and the hosts have time to spend together,
even though it is understood that people have time restrictions on their trips, we still prefer to host people that want to stay longer. You do have a day to spare! You need to at least attempt to connect with the people you are surfing with, because ultimately that's what this whole site is about (I think).

Turku has a pretty active couchsurfing community of nice people, and they have monthly meetings, which we sometimes attend if possible.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfed with 7 hosts, hosted many more. Hosting surfers is like "traveling without leaving the house." to quote a friend.

Interests

Outdoors, music, playing instruments, technology, martial arts, jiu-jitsu, football, video games, spending time with friends, meeting new ones, traveling.

• writing
• technology
• video games
• reading
• music
• martial arts
• philosophy
• wwoof
• football
• outdoors
• playing instruments
• traveling.
• workaway
• spending time with friends
• jiu-jitsu

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/71586423-tomas-helander

Music: Literally everything, even country and rap.

Podcasts: JRE, Waking Up w/ Sam Harris, Tim Ferriss Show, Tangentially Speaking, EconTalk, Hardcore History, Common Sense, Radiolab, History on Fire

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Traveled with Lauren.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like to play banjo, guitar and ukulele.
https://soundcloud.com/tomashelander
I know how to google for and make kickass pizza dough.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Finland, Scotland