********At the moment I cannot host anyone because I'm busy with exams. I might be able to host someone during the summer, it depends on my travel plans*********

Hello everybody!

As you've probably already understood my name is Valeria. I am an Italian girl currently studying at the Università di Padova.

I like to consider myself a multifaceted person. In fact, my ultimate passion is learning. I strongly believe that knowledge and competence are the most useful tools to live a happy and meaningful life. 

I've always been called a traveller. I have visited many countries with my parents when I was younger. We are members of the home exchange community and when travelling we usually stay with locals. This has surely shaped my perception of travelling: when visiting a new country I don't simply want to go sightseeing and visit just the main touristic spots, my aim is to get to know the country, its people and its culture. 

It's been some years I've started also travelling alone. My first solo travel was to the Netherlands, where I’ve been hosted by a Dutch family. We’ve then hosted their daughter and now we see each other once in a while! Then I’ve travelled around Europe a bit, but the most amazing experience I had has been during the summer of 2017, when I volunteered in Colombia for two months! There I worked for El Banco the Alimentos de Bogota and helped them with a fundraising campaign, and I was also able to know many motivated people and to improve my Spanish. It has been a great opportunity to get to know myself better, to know my limits and my capacities. All this while learning the local way of living and trying to get around in a completely different country, in such a big city as Bogota. 
Then, during the summer of 2018 I spent an amazing month volunteering at a hostel in Sevilla!

I'm a quiet and calm person but I can also be quite talkative and literally talk about any topic in the world! I love chemistry and physics, but also literature and languages. Learning and reading about anything is what keeps me alive.

I'm languages enthusiast, but unfortunately, I don't know as many as I would like. Though, I'm trying to improve my Spanish and I'm planning to study both French and Portuguese!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've found couchsurfing by chance, I was looking for something similar to home exchange and I found this great site!

Luckily I've got the opportunity to meet quite a lot of people thanks to this website and I enjoyed every minute I've spent with them. It is always inspiring to hear such different life stories, opinions and ideas. The best thing that couchsurfers offer is their own, personal perspective on the world.

Up to know I've hosted many people thanks to home exchange and I hope I'll be able to host many couchsurfers as well, though it's a bit more difficult now that I've started university and I don't live at home anymore.

I love to show around people and if you want any advice for your trip you just have to ask, I'd be glad to answer you! Plus, even if I might not be able to host you I'd love to meet up and show you around the city or just go for a coffee and have a talk.

Interests

• cats
• writing
• cooking
• yoga
• walking
• reading
• biology
• chemistry
• economics
• history
• languages
• physics
• psychology
• sociology
• sightseeing
• travelling
• nature
• phylosophy
• trekking
• horseriding
• nature walks

Music, Movies, and Books

I love reading, I can spend whole days reading and I often do it in the summer. Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Frankenstein are the best books ever.
The genres I prefer the most are historical, thrillers and classical books, but I read all types. My favourite books of all are the Sherlock Holmes ones because they combine history and the detective story.
Of the historical genre I liked Ken Follet, in particular Pillars of the earth, but I liked also other Ken Follet's books because he also combines history and detective story.
I love also classical books, but I still have to read many of them, but I'll surely read them when I have some free time, maybe next summer after exams, when I finally won't be overwhelmed by school commitments.

I like also some fantasy book, but historical are my favourites because I really love history.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Volunteering in Colombia.
Doing workaway at a hostel in Sevilla.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Interesting stories, debates, talks and good meals is what I'd like to share with all my hosts.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cabo Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy