I was born in the suburbs of Paris, but moved when I was still young (3 years old) to Venezuela, and later to Malaysia and Hong Kong, where I graduated from High School and returned to France to pursue studies in political science and liberal arts at Sciences Po. In my third year, I went to Penn (Philadelphia) for a year, following courses at Wharton and at the School of Arts and Sciences. As a graduate student, I started a double degree in business and political science in Paris before taking a break to launch a high-tech start-up. CEO for 3 years, I then joined a restructuring fund to work with distressed companies in France. In 2014, I quit the restructuring fund and join a US-based private development organization, funding projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

On the side, I am a volunteer emergency responder at the Red Cross.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I signed up on CS 8 years ago, and never really used it. Until I did a cross country trip in the US a 5 years back, hitch-hicking from New York to San Francisco through the southern states with my best friend. If it hadn't been for CS, and in spite of pet pitbulls' best efforts, I probably wouldn't have made it...
A few months earlier, I was doing a surf trip with a friend and we hadn't planned any of it, deciding to just figure it out on the way. We left Paris by train, and arrived in Bordeaux (which had the closest train station to the beaches we wanted to go to) late into the night, with nowhere to stay. As we dawdled throughout the city searching for a cheap hotel or an accommodating bench, we saw this guy in his early twenties to whom we turned to for directions. Seeing us wandering aimlessly through the night in search of a place to crash, he invited us over to his place, called a few friends, got beers, and let us chill at his place and sleep on his couch. We had never met the guy, he never asked for anything back, and left us with a truly memorable experience.
I wish I will one day run into lost travelers and be able to welcome them to my city in the same way.

After these two experiences, I really started getting involved on CS and hosting people. Between 2010 & 2011, I was hosting people every week, and some were returning to see me a number of times. It became a bit invasive, so I stopped altogether.

Since then, I've changed jobs and countries multiple times, so it's become a bit complicated to host, but I still love the concept and its community

Interests

Sports (surfing, sailing, skiing, martial arts - mostly Muay Thai - Tennis, Rugby, running, anything in the outdoors, swimming...), but also photography, architecture, visiting art museums, travelling, reading, writing, poetry, history, partying.. I also enjoy cooking a lot.

• pets
• arts
• writing
• poetry
• architecture
• photography
• cooking
• beer
• running
• partying
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• hiking
• surfing
• sailing
• skiing
• sports
• martial arts
• tennis
• rugby
• swimming
• business
• history
• political science
• science
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite books include (but are not limited to!) The Master and Margarita, American Psycho, On the Road, The Catcher in the Rye, The Fountainhead, Les Miserables, La Curée, Brave New World, Martin Eden, La Belle du Seigneur, Ask the dust, Narcissus and Goldmund, Steppenwolf, The picture of dorian gray, Les Chants de Maldoror, The Myth of Sisyphus...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Almost died of thirst and despair while hitch-hiking in the Arizona Desert
Crashed a car in a dirt road in the jungles of Costa Rica while on a surf trip
Surfed with dolphins in Bali
Dug out a bus stuck in sand dunes while trying to reach isolated villages in Ningxia Province, China
Trained martial arts with Shaolin Monks in China, and participated in amateur kickboxing world championships
Got surrounded by crocodiles while fishing in the Amazon
Hiked from Kosovo to Albania
Fell in a sulphur pit in the Danakil Desert and had the fear of my life
Working my way to a 150 free fall jumps to learn wingsuit
Fell in Love multiple times :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Gabon, Kenya, Malaysia, United States, Venezuela