We are experienced couch-surfers. We have been part of the community since 2008, hosting dozens of people in our houses in Warsaw, Madrid and Birmingham (not at the same time!) and surfing in several countries (India, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania). We had some amazing experiences: from sleeping in an abandoned houses in the mountains of Granada, through visiting alternative communities and eco-villages, to staying in luxury villas in Goa with our own car and driver. The hight of our engagement with couchsurfing was running a couch surfing mansion with a bunch of friends in Madrid. The unforgettable "Super Flat" was always full of visitors, and we didn't have to go further than the kitchen to meet someone amazing.

We have met all different types of people: magicians, festival-goers, artists who paint with their own blood, fruitarians, preachers, dancers, pot-heads, philosophers, psychoanalysts and even a few IT people and law school students ;) From dancing in the desert in the last rays of daylight, through washing an elephant in the waters of a river to hitching a ride with Turkish truck drivers – we've collected many beautiful travel memories.

We have now settled down a bit. We are still keen to host and be hosted but we are probably more for quiet evenings at home or in a cafe than for crazy party nights. We are still into all those slightly hippie things like (possibly) ecological travel, hiking, yoga, veggie food, artistic cinema, foreign cultures, exploring nature etc. But we don't sleep rough quite as much and we go to bed a bit earlier too. We also travel a lot for work (Marta for conferences and Wojtek with groups of tourists or on research trips to new destinations), so we are not die hard bent on collecting all the travel experiences – we are more for having a nice and inspiring time with interesting people.

Professionally, Marta is an academic studying academic communication, while Wojtek is a tour guide in Italy and in Warsaw.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We believe that couchsurfing and similar projects are one of the best things you can find on the Internet. We hope it will remain a safe platform for travellers and will avoid the risks of commercialisation too!

We've had only good experiences on CS. People are incredibly open and helpful. Being a couch surfer is a beautiful, experience full of surprises in a world where – according to some sociologists – people are becoming more and more isolated. The couchsurfing community is incredible.

Interests

traveling
nature
photography
music
cinema
philosophy

• birds
• writing
• photography
• movies
• reading
• languages
• philosophy
• art
• nature
• nature walks
• academia

Music, Movies, and Books

W: That's a long story. From Sepultura to Tom Waits.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wojtek washed an elephant in the river in Hampi (India). Did you know it takes two bars of soap to clean 1 elephant?

Marta: I danced poi in the Sahara Desert.
I did paragliding over the Blue Lagoon in Oludeniz (Turkey)
I climbed on the stage when a popular band was performing and sung "Happy Birthday" to my friend (the band didn't mind, they even played the tune).
I completed a Phd!

Teach, Learn, Share

Wojtek works as a city guide in Warsaw, and he can give you some useful tips for free:) He also knows a lot about many Italian regions.

Marta is working in academia and is happy to talk about university, choosing your studies, research, studying for a PhD...

What I Can Share with Hosts

We have had many travel adventures and are happy to share. We can also share food :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, Poland, Spain

•