| Ben Smith has been vouched for |
| VERIFIED MEMBER Identity Checked, Location Verified (3) more info |
| Couch available | Maybe |
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| CouchSurf requests replied to | 100% |
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| member since | February 13th, 2007 |
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| profile views | 1,451 |
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| gender | Male |
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| membername | RISSO |
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| occupation | Hmm... Was an engineer, for 12 weeks, then the travel bug kicked in. |
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| education | Bach Engineering/Science |
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| grew up in | Geelong |
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| Direct Profile URL |
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Languages Groups I Belong ToGeelong & Bellarine 112:97
Why: Home since birth
|  Hard Core Travellers' Blog 464:476
Why: 6 months USA, Europe 4-12 months, South America in the near future, Africa for 3 years (still in the grey)
| Melbourne 14786:60220
Why: Work, live and breathe this cultural hub of beauty
|  United Nations 927:222
Why: UN related items, I'd love to be more involved, especially as a free helping hand (worldwide)
| Active in 6 more groups.
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Couch Information
Couch Available: Maybe
Preferred Gender: Any
No smoking allowed
Has children: No
Can host children: No
Has pets: No
Can host pets: No
Max Surfers Per Night: 2
Shared Sleeping Surface: Depends
Shared Room: YesI have a queen sized bed that I don't mind sharing with people, other than that, I have some ripper blow up mattresses. It's mamma's and pappas couch. Well reconstruction is done. I am always up for a catch up: Coffee to any other kind of meeting in the nearby region. If one person need s a haunt to stay in and some good notice is given, my folks would be pretty welcoming
Some time needs to be given so I can give some heads up to my folks. Once everything is sorted there will either be sharing of my bed (it is not single sized) or a blow up mattress. Friends (15)
 Gillian Murray
22, Female
Dundee, Dundee
Scotland
Friends since June 2008
"how we met is plain crazy! we'd both just arrived in the country, happened to miss the train we were meant to be on, sat beside on eanother at the bus stop et voila... we've been inseperable ever since :)"
Friendship Type: Best Friend
  30+ |
 Thomas O'Brien
31, Male
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
Friends since February 2005
"Lived in university college in Melbourne together for six months and caught up regularly afterwards, including a month at a friends house in NJ Dec/Jan 06/07"
Friendship Type: Close Friend
28 |
 Crystal Murphy
28, Female
Birmingham, Alabama
United States
Friends since April 2007
"I kidnapped him for a night of drunken debauchery..."
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
I vouched for Ben Smith
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 Waldo Vanderhaeghen
25, Male
Brussels, Brussels
Belgium
Friends since October 2007
"Ljubljana drink"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
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 Claire Murray
29, Female
Dundee, Dundee
Scotland
Friends since July 2008
"found him in bed with my little sister....its ok they are a couple.hehehe"
Friendship Type: Good Friend
 5 |
 Chris Baring
34, Several people
Wellington, Wellington
New Zealand
Friends since April 2007
"we hugged and kissed each other in the amazon"
Friendship Type: Friend
14 |
 Claire Bright
26, Female
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
Friends since February 2004
"Went to uni together"
Friendship Type: Good Friend
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 TERIANE
26, Female
Sydney, New South Wales
Australia
Friends since August 2008
"met threw friends "
Friendship Type: Good Friend
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 Kirsty McAlinden
23, Female
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
Friends since August 2008
"Drunken karoke nyt in Geelong"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
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 Tessa Cunningham
56, Female
Darley, Victoria
Australia
Friends since April 2007
"Know Ben through friends and my son Luke"
Friendship Type: Good Friend
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Personal DescriptionAfter meeting a... plethora of people through school I wanted to know culture. Coming from a town where the chances of meeting others from outside that town is pretty low makes one miss out on so much. Meeting these people... now friends, I wanted to experience their lifestyles. So, instead of just being a tourist, or a backpacker, I want to also explore the life of a local. Not only is this the real experience of the land, but they have stories of the area and hot, non tourist spots. I love joining in on others passions.
My passion is to experience your passion... sounds corny, eh?How I Participate in CSWanna spread the relaxed, good, nature of the Australian way around this tiny globeCouchSurfing ExperienceAmerican catch ups were great, people were welcoming. Europe experience has been a blast too, meeting for drinks, and bunking out at some great people's places... yea, all experiences were one to enjoy, and very different.InterestsOutside anything, whether that'd be rain, hail or shine. Things I don't know... or fear, are things I want to experience. This includes BASE jumping and, er, swimming. Night life, day life, your life.
Check my friends blog at: tomonz.wordpress.com/
He's doing his Environmental Politics PhD and is a killer of a writer!
My African experience is slowly getting updated at risso1.wordpress.com/
Photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/benfsmithPhilosophyWhy die with a million dollars when you can touch a million souls.
Prevent poverty through education.Music, Movies, BooksMusic (esp since New Orleans): Regae, Jazz, Blues, Central American, Latin, Lounge, Cafe. Other styles are cool, but to a selective extent. Despise: Hard core beats requiring drugs, senseless screaming.
Movies: Pi, Eternal Sunshine..., Schindler's List, Crash, Boondock Saints, one of Marilyn Munroe's (Diamonds are a girls best friend?), Castle, Trainspotting, Lock Stock..., Snatch, Sean of the Dead, Fight Club, Princess Bride, Moulin Rouge, Chicago, Gothika, Notebook and American History X.
Books: Well, the author Simak always entertained me. People of the (Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Masks...) this follows the exploits of certain native Americans, ranging from when in Russia (the first wave) to maybe a couple of generations before Europeans. Several Stephen King books, Of Mice and Men, Fly Away Peter... the list goes on.Types of People I enjoyHappy, eccentric. Ideas peopleTeach, Learn, ShareIf you hear a tourist say: "Don't go there, it's dangerous", then that is where the real culture is. Every experience is great, and next thing you know, you may be participating in an event the locals have organised. You either have a good time or an educational time.One Amazing Thing I've Seen or DonePeople are amazing!
FAMILY
World, life of others.Locations TraveledTRAVELED: Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, United States
LIVED: Australia
WANTS TO GO: Zambia
IS GOING TO: England, France, Northern Ireland
What do these numbers mean?
This summary is not a replacement for reading references; it's a quick summary to help you get started. At a glance, you can see how many references a member has, and how many of them are positive, neutral, and negative.
In the second line, you'll see how many references came from people who hosted this member, surfed with them, and traveled with them. These numbers won't always add up to the total: some references are not categorized, and some may be categorized as more than one thing.
When viewing this summary, don't jump to conclusions! Things that are negative for one person may be positive for another, and vice versa. It's important to read references carefully and evaluate what that information means to you. References (13)12Positive 1Neutral 0Negative
1From Hosts 1From Surfers 1Traveling
From Claire Bright Melbourne, Australia
Sep 23, 2009  Positive Ben is warm, lively and entertaining. He has a great sense of humor and a wonderful ability to make people feel at ease. It's rare to see him without a grin on his face and he'll happily talk to you about anything from crosswords to marathons. When living on campus together it quickly became apparent that Ben was one the friendliest and most approachable people around. Anyone hosting or staying with Ben is guaranteed to have a positive experience.
From TERIANE Sydney, Australia
Sep 25, 2008 Positive Met Ben trough friends luke and chez. Ben is open and very friendly and an easy person to talk to and mix with.
 From Cathy Haynes Geelong, Australia
Sep 19, 2008  Positive Wow. This young chap is amazing. Has his heart and ethics in absolutely the right spot - and laughs at my jokes!
Fantastic lad - should be more of them - but he is a star!
From Kirsty McAlinden Melbourne, Australia
Aug 2, 2008  Positive Ben is such a good guy..very genuine an down to earth!Was great getting to meet him!I do apologise though for my drunkenness!Hope to see him again when I'm back in Melbourne!look after my wee hunni Grelly!
 From Ian Hong Chan Geneva, Switzerland
Aug 1, 2008 Ben is a nice guy... But I really don't know what all those flus came from. We had good chat during the whole time and I don't really remember being offensive (or shooshing)to your partner. For one thing, if I want to offend anyone, I would never just shoosh people! And I had no motive to offend her. Did I? I am guessing this may come from some misunderstandings from how I behaved that I was not aware of and how you took it differently than I did. But I would prefer to say it out loud at the moment much better.
But all in all, I think you are a very progressive person who is working hard for your life and have an optimistic outlook. The comment about the "shoosh" is the only thing that is confusing me.
 From Mateja Mikulan Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jan 15, 2008 Positive reeeeaaally communicative and great to talk with.shame we only met once, hope to meet him again some day for another chat by bela kava:)good luck with your travels!
p.s:great seeing him again in new year!!if you have a chance, definitely go at least for a drink!!see you in march:)
 From ChristmasMusic Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jan 3, 2008 Positive Nice, communicative guy who likes Slovenia very much. We had an interesting talk in Maček. Enjoy your time! Hope to meet soon!
Update: What a pleasant surprise for a New Year! Thank you for a great talk!
 From Frederico Lopes Tiradentes, Brazil
Nov 30, 2007  Positive Ben is, simply put, a great person. Smart, inteligent, kind, with a tremendous sense of humour too boot. He's also a brave adventurer, and a solid laugh. Despite not knowing Ben before, we got along as if we were close friends since childwood. We do have a friend common,Mr.Tom, hehehehehe...Cheers, mate, I hope to see you soon!
 From SCANNO24 Bacchus Marsh, Australia
Nov 5, 2007 Positive worked with him for a short period of time painting the roads in victoria....
Have since met after his amazing adventure. A great guy and very energetic personality and love for all lifes great chellenges.
definatley worth having a met up or host.
From Waldo Vanderhaeghen Brussels, Belgium
Oct 29, 2007 Positive haidihow! You resemble my friend and he resembles you. And ppl who resemble friends like mirrors are my kind of mirror ;)
Ben is so multidimensial, he is engineer, runs marathons, travels the world; shy in a way but at the same time very open. Interesting and enthusiastic. He is the kind of ppl who fill the world with flowers of ppl :)
Have fun and see you somewhere around.
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