Monika Manduk's Photo

Unverified Profile

  • Payment not verified
  • Phone not verified
  • Government ID not verified

Wants to Meet Up

  • Last login almost 3 years ago

Join Couchsurfing to see Monika’s full profile.

Overview

  • 0 references
  • Fluent in English, Polish; learning Japanese, Russian, Spanish
  • 51, Female
  • Member since 2009
  • Web designer & developer, Photographer, Advertising M...
  • Master of Psychology, Lodz University, Poland + European ...
  • From Lodz, Poland
  • Profile 75% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

Meeting people from diffrent cultures, sharing enthusiasm and travelling experiences. Be happy and make people smile:)
Daily life photography.

ABOUT ME

Travelling is a huge part of my life. I've just realised that during the last 6 years, I've spent 3,5 years travelling:))

My long term travelling adventure begun in 2010 after I took a gap year at work (one month holidays a year wasn't enough:). I went to Central America then, where I've been few times earlier, few weeks each, and I just wanted to spend more time in a region I started to love. I went the whole way by land from eastern Panama (Darien province), through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico and Cuba (the only by plane:). I fall in love with Belize so much that I decided to stay for 6 months on a tiny island, with a coral reef around, which was amazing:)
Then I went back to Poland for 2 weeks to change fill my laguage with new set of clothes and a moment later landed in Australia. I've spent there 2 months driving from Perth to Adelaide, then Alice Springs first, then Kangaroo Island, Tasmania, Melbourne, Darwin and around, and all the way along east cost from Cairns to Sydney. Then New Zealand for 5 weeks:) Going back home, I spend last 3 months in Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.
So when I came back to my work in advertising in mid 2011 after more then a year travelling, I couldn't think of anything else but travelling again.
In June 2013 I quit my job in ad agency (no more gap years expected;-) and left for a new adventure. Since then I'm still on my travel (over 2 years now).
I've started going by transsiberian train to Irkuck in Siberia and spent a month travelling aroud Baikal Lake, then 2 months in Mongolia, 3 in China, then Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Mailaysia, Philippines and Indonesia.
I live in Australia now for over a year, but miss travelling the rest of the world, so I'm going to be back on track very soon:)

As for today, I'm planning to be in Thailand (february-march 2016), Philippines (april 2016) and Japan (may 2016). See you soon ine there:)))

I am open minded, optimistic and enthusiastic about what I get from every day life. And meeting people from all over the world is the best travel experience I can expect while travelling:)

PHILOSOPHY

be happy with what you have:)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I don't have much experience in couchsurfing, apart of being invited to stay in some privite houses of the friend I had met while travelling, which we appreciate a lot:) I had amazing hosts and even without knowing local languages sometimes, I had loads of nice conversations using a kind of international body language.
So now just starting my couchsurfing experience, but with optimistic outlook:)))

Interests

travelling for sure:) and people:)
what I also love is morning tea, yoga, photography, writing, sailing, diving, snorkeling, peace of mind:)

  • writing
  • photography
  • cooking
  • baking
  • yoga
  • clothing
  • traveling
  • socializing
  • scuba diving
  • snorkeling
  • sailing
  • track and field
  • languages

Music, Movies, and Books

a long list of world music from brazilian bossa nova to mongolian long song,
documentary films, reportage and much more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing was when I finally decided to travel the world on my own.
It was my first long term travel (over a year) through all Cantral American countries, from Panama to Mexico, then to Australia and New Zealand, finishing in Indonesia and Philippines.
This travel changed my way od thinking about me, my place in the the world and travelling itself and now travelling is a big part of my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have smile to share and lots of travel advantures to talk about.
I can learn photography, Photoshop, Lightroom.
Love baking, so I could teach you how to bake a real bread, Polish dumplins, different cakes and cookies :D

What I Can Share with Hosts

All my travel experiences, photography, international cooking and baking recipies:)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belize, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Belize, Poland, United Kingdom

Join Couchsurfing to see Monika’s full profile.

My Groups