NOTE: I'm not hosting at the moment as I'm doing some traveling myself, Woohoo!

Hello, my name is João. Your computer is not broken, it's really spelled with the funny "ã". I come from beautiful Porto where I've lived all my life.

People usually regard me as a laid back, easy-going person with a positive attitude. They also say I have a peculiar sense of humour, which I think is just oa very polite way to say I make terrible jokes.

I'm a very simple guy and enjoy the little things like a nice meal, a talk over some drinks, being cosy, being yourself and being able to relax and just focus on existing.

I like laughing and having a very light mood around me. I can't cope with uptight, negative or judgmental people.

I live with a rescue cat named Tobias. Be careful if you have allergies. He will personally evaluate all requests and he has the final word on accepting people over. (Don't blame me, I'm not the one making the rules.)

There isn't much else i can think of. "How would you describe yourself" is absolutely the hardest question in the history of humanity, and as such, in a very typical humanly way, i'll cheat and half-ass it. Maybe later you can help me with this question.

Last year I volunteered in Denmark for three months. My trip had several purposes: exploring and experiencing alternating lifestyles, seeing how living on and off the grid might be balanced for a greater good, doing some writing, getting to live within a different culture, taking the time to ask myself some questions and seek the answers, meeting people with different views and ideals and listen to what they had to say.

The impact was so big that this year I've decided to quit my job, leave my home and dedicate this coming year to get deeper into volunteering and studying how phenomena like poverty, corporatism, lobbying, capitalism, disease and ecology are more intertwined than one might think.

I like people that:
- Wear unmatching socks.
- Daydream so much that they forget how to act around people.
- Have the superpower of watering down concentrated juice to the perfect standards of taste.
- Dance and sing even though they are very bad at it.
- Have been guaranteed a place in hell because of their terrible sense of humour.
- Accept 42 as the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
- Know the word in english for this pesky thing --> ~
- Read lists until the end.
- HA! Made you look.

Enough randomness. See you soon.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

*****INFORMATION FOR COUCHSURFERS*****

When I'm working I can't travel so the next best thing is to bring other travelers to me. Hearing their stories, connecting with them and learning new things is a great way to escape daily routine.

I usually work during weekdays so my time with CS's is mostly spent at dinner time and doing some chatting and relaxing afterwards. On Saturdays I usually go out with my friends and CS's are welcome to join to see Porto's nightlife. Sundays are excellent to listen to live Fado.

For me, couchsurfing is about exchange, getting to know people and bonding with them. If you're just looking for a place to sleep and don't care much about this philosophy I'm not the one to host you - I will not be disrespected by having freeloaders on my place and, mark my words, I will ask you to leave regardless of your situation.

If you're requesting to stay at someone's house, the very least you can do is read their profile and also, write one of your own. All requests must include "Sword-that-slays-everything-except-squid" on their message. Bonus points will be awarded if you use it in a sentence.

If you don't have an interesting profile, couldn't be troubled to upload more than one picture, have less than a couple of friends, registered in the last month, send me a generic, uninteresting or copy/paste message, ask yourself: why the hell would I want to host you?

The maximum number of nights is 2. Please don't send me requests for dates that are more than a week and a half away.

If you're traveling in groups you need to attach the couchsurfing profile of every person in the group in your request.

Keep in mind that I get a lot of requests and, because time is very short I cannot reply to all of them. I apologize for the seemingly rudeness of just declining requests, but really, please understand it would take me hours everyday to be able to do so.

*****INFORMATION FOR HOSTS*****

I've mostly hosted people so far, so I get a pretty good idea of what a good Couchsurfer is.
I'm ok with wanting to hang out or not, it is my pleasure to cook and keep things clean. I'll make sure not to be a nuisance, on the contrary, i'll do my best to help you in any way I can.
I'm also very receptive of any activities you propose. Doing things out of the ordinary is exactly what drives me!

Interests

Ecology. Sustainability. Peace. Personal Growth. Happiness.

• cooking
• ecology
• sustainability
• communication
• peace
• tolerance

Music, Movies, and Books

If I had to select a few this would be it:

Music - Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Anathema, Devin Townsend, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Movies - Incendies, Zeitgeist, Leon, Vozvrashchenie, José e Pilar, The Insider, Das Experiment.

Books - José Saramago, Miguel Esteves Cardoso, Vergílio Ferreira, Kafka, George Martin, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchet, Charles Dickens, George Orwell.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bolivia, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, Ecuador, Norway, Portugal