Oh hi there, Raphael here.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Meeting or hosting other travellers, is a little bit like actually travelling.

Interests

Anything told with passion is interesting

• architecture
• design
• photography
• wine
• running
• meditation
• partying
• anthropology
• geopolitics
• languages
• urban exploration
• travel
• urbanism

Music, Movies, and Books

I would love to be the type of guy who watched Rashomon, but facing the choice I prefer watching Borat for the 5th time.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This one time, when I spent a weekend in Athens with a friend, we sneaked into an old deserted airport, turned into a Syrian/Afghan refugee camp. We got a feeling we were a bit outta line after climbing a two meters high fence to get in, but fuck it, we were already there and there were crumbling passenger planes on the deserted runways.

We approached the old terminal building. Once an impressive 1930s monumental gateway to the skies, its days of glory were long over. The plaster was peeling off the walls, weed was growing out of the cracked tiles and refugee children were playing polo in the courtyard, seemingly undisturbed by the stench of sewer.

We tried to get into one of the deserted air planes, but our exploration was cut short. A policeman suddenly appeared out of nowhere, walked up to us and wanted to know who we were, what we were doing there and how the fuck we got in. We came up with a lame story and the nicest smiles with sugar on top we could come up with. As he was escorting us out, he told us that normally he would have to arrest us for trespassing, but we don’t look like we’re looking for trouble, so he is letting us off the hook.

Sometimes I break the rules, but I'm really a good guy.

Teach, Learn, Share

Let’s walk around the city and explore. It’s amazing how much you can learn just by sharing an experience with someone you didn’t know before.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Gratitude and friendship

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macao, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Israel

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