CURRENT MISSION

No need to occupy Wall Street for me, some couches with great people in cool places around the world will do!

ABOUT ME

I actively go after great new activities, moments and experiences. If I don't find one I try my best to create it myself.

I am an chronic information junkie - so much interesting things to discover out there, and so little time. Sounds cheesy, huh? I am a nerd in many ways, as much in culture, literature, technology, science as in people and the subtleties of human interaction.

I love travelling, though I suck at planning it and am very much a 'winging it' improvising-on-the-spot kind of person. I've found each unexpected setback tends to come with benefits - the most interesting people you meet are sometimes those who missed the same flight as you.

I love talking and I love listening - if it's in a foreign language all the better, might as well pick up on some gems along the way. I've found language says a lot about culture; from German's knack for words that efficiently capture something that would take a paragraph in other languages to Italian's way you almost have to sing it, however mundane the message.

PHILOSOPHY

Everybody is as nice to you as you are to them. Also, when in doubt whether to stay in and do nothing, or join an activity with other people, always go for the second however little you feel like it in the moment - unexpected great moments are the best.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Surfing and hosting of course!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Ever since I was a student I have been couch surfing with friends in various cities and countries long before knowing it was a 'thing'. Having studied in Spain and lived in London (update: I can now add South Italy to that list, yay!) has gotten me friends from many places and it's always been nice to host them, or go visit them where they live!

Trough this web site I've only had wonderful experiences so far, both in hosting and in surfing!

I guess the reviews speak for themselves, there are so many exclamation marks, smileys and memories of bar trips flying around in both directions it gets almost unbearably cheesy :) But every one of those is meant, no doubt about it. CS is great, and the project as a whole shares many of my personal values.

Interests

Traveling (NO KIDDING, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT), music, all things nerdy, people and how they socially interact, and music (I play piano and guitar and like writing silly love songs).

• culture
• writing
• literature
• singing
• coffee
• drinking
• flying
• technology
• traveling
• music
• rock music
• guitar
• piano
• surfing
• languages
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: everything I can get my hands on really, and my favorite changes constantly so here's just some cherry picks:
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
Nabokov - Lolita
Jane Austen - pride & prejudice
Tom Sharpe - Wilt (made me really laugh out loud a lot)
Umberto Eco - The name of the rose (this one too, strangely, during the trial scene)
Michael Cordy - The micracle strain
Stephen Hunter - Point of Impact
Dean Koontz - Watchers
Stephen Hawking - A brief history of time
Lloyd Motz - The story of physics (directly responsible for my decision to go study physics)

Movies:
Cidade de Deus.
Trainspotting.
Groundhog Day.
In Bruges.
Mr. Jones. (I relate quite strongly to Gere's chacter.)
Pretty addicted to standup comedy clips on youtube too (Jerry Seinfeld, Ed Byrne, Ellen Degeneres...).
I hate Star Wars.

Music:
Bob Dylan, more and more these days.
Also, The Beatles of course, Oasis, Blur, Kasabian, Stereophonics, The Verve, The Cure, The Strokes, Athlete, Les Miserables soundtrack, Mozart, Bach (check out BWV 1043!), Norah Jones, dEUS ...

Shows: Les Miserables, The Shape Of Things

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived in Madrid for half a year, London for an entire year, and Puglia, Italy for another half year. Lots of amazing things in all of those, but stories are more fun to share in real life over a drink!

Teach, Learn, Share

You can play 90% of all well-known pop and rock music using just the chords G, D, Em and C on guitar (it won't be the original key, but it will be good enough to sing along to!).

You can boil an egg in about 1 minute by breaking it, putting in a coffee cup in the microwave.