CURRENT MISSION

To explore different cultures. Trying to do a little possible positive change in our surrounding world.

ABOUT ME

Hi! We are Valery (27 years), my lovely wife Victoria (24 years), our furry dog ​​Maggie (Bernese Mountain Dog) and a cat Busia (British shorthair). We live 500 kilometers from Moscow (capital of Russia) in the small town Voronezh (1 million population).
We got married in 2007 and are happy to be together! We love to travel and to receive guests, meet new people, learn something new, share knowledge, experiences and stories.
We are spontaneous and quick on our feet. It is easy to interest us with something new and to surprise at unexplored things.
We also love our planet and nature and try to live in harmony with it. We are non-smokers.
It happened so that we travelled a lot last year and our travelling experience made us ready to realize our dream - to see Australia (already have seen and now we love this country so much!), to meet its positive citizens and to make friends! When we travel, we want to see what is real in a country - peoples' households, social life, food, secret sights and everyday routines.

He:
I was born in Voronezh in a family of geologists. When I was a child, I was spending all my holidays in the countryside close to the nature. We were living in tents on the bank of the river, spending every weekend in the woods, were cooking on a fire. Being a schoolboy, I participated in archaeological excavations in the Crimea (lived in a tent on the plateau for 1 month). I also was an observer at the camp of UFO researchers expedition.
I'm interested in computers and drawing since childhood. These interests grew into a real profession. Now I’m a freelancer. Involved in making web-sites, programming, interface design, creation of animated music videos for music bands, visual effects, other art and computer stuff. In my youth I was keen on 3d animation, my works were winning the 1st places in various festivals and competitions, but now I gave up this hobby. Maybe one day I'll get back to it... Now I'm thinking of creating my own business connected with design and animation.
I like to make photos and shoot video. Some of the photos I sell at Shutterstock.
Some years ago I was giving computer lessons for the students in "Voronezh Institute of High Technologies".
I like to talk and share my experiences. My English is not very good, but usually I can explain what I want to say, using paper and pencil, gestures, and so on...
One of my crazy hobbies is surfing. And anything connected with it. It's a pity that we don't have an ocean or sea in Voronezh... It is probably the reason why surfing is still my dream. I can wind-surf a little (although it's hard to call that I can) and even once tried the ocean surfing during my vacation in Dominican Republic. It was hard to keep balance, but I surfed some waves! It was amazing!

She:
I was born in Baku, Azerbaijan republic, in the country of the "black gold" on the Caspian sea. My mother worked in the State Oil Company, which was located in the sea (100 kilometers from the coast). It was a city on stilts. I often asked to take me to her work, because it was very interesting, though dangerous, to be there.
In 2000, we moved to Voronezh. Here I entered the university, the faculty of journalism, advertising department. It was a wonderful, funny, full of amazing moments students life. Since then, I was fascinated with photography. I like to take photos of my family and my friends. Friends even ask me to be their wedding photographer :)
I also love animals. I worked as a volunteer at the homeless animals shelter here in Voronezh and still try to help them as much as I can.
I am communicative and always ready to maintain the conversation. I can talk almost any topic.
I love to travel and would like to make friends around the world.
Recently, I was interested in Ayurveda, Indian culture and a healthy lifestyle, including vegetarian meals.

PHILOSOPHY

Treat others the same I wanted to be treated. Treat animals with respect. Appreciate natural beauty.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Unfortunately we are unable to host in present living arrangements, but will when we are able.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We are new in Couchsurfing. We heard about it from a friend and thought it was a great idea.

Interests

We both are interested in:
Photography, Books, Films & Cartoons, Music, Australia, Animals, English language, Kayaking.

He:
Surfing (I mean Watersports), Creative ideas, Design & Web-design, Animation & Visual FX, Camping, Survival.

She:
Ayurveda, Indian culture and a healthy lifestyle, including vegetarian meals.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• culture
• books
• design
• photography
• beauty
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• cartoons
• movies
• traveling
• drawing
• survival
• music
• kayaking
• camping
• surfing
• swimming
• animation
• business
• freelancing
• journalism
• volunteering
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Our favorite films are "3 idiots" (India, 2009), "Pi's life" (2013), "Avatar" (2009), "Kung Fu Panda" (2008, 2011), "Interstate 60" (2002), "The Secret" (2006), "The Karate Kid" (2010), "The Social Network" (2010), "Angel-A" (2005), "Coming to America" (1988).

He loves fiction. For example, a story in which the main character of this days randomly gets into the past. What adventures await him there, what knowledge and inventions he uses.

She prefers philosophy books like "Alchemist", "Shantaram", etc.

As for the music, we listen to all kinds of music. At various points in life you want to listen to different styles or composition.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

He:
- First time ocean surfing experience;
- White sand beaches in Dominican Rep. and Mexico;
- 3 Times winter swimming (Temperature: -30 C).

She:
Swimming with dolphins was an amazing experience!

Teach, Learn, Share

We have no secrets from anyone, and we are happy to teach you everything what we know and what we can do.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Maldives, Mexico, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation