Hey! I'm Ben. I live in Istanbul, Turkey, but I'm originally from England (although I haven't lived there in a couple of decades). I've spent many years living in Canada, as well as Armenia and Lebanon.

I love Couchsurfing as it means meeting amazing people from across the world who are in the middle of all types of adventures. I also love coffee, tea, hitchhiking, food, cats, dogs, classic cars, hiking, more coffee, wine, cheese, kebabs, snowboarding, wine, hummus, hitchhiking, cycling, coffee, urbex, and coffee - Aaaalll that stuff... in no particular order.

RANDOM FACTS:

The only place I've ever had a three day hangover was in Iran.

I hitchhike a lot. It's a great way of crossing countries/continents and having unforgettable experiences. My wife, Victoria, and I have hitchhiked around Turkey/Georgia/Armenia many many times and have always had amazing experiences. Victoria is multilingual which makes a big difference!l.

I once got paid $75 and a burrito to spend a whole day riding a rollercoaster in San Diego. It was worth it.

I met Victoria through Couchsurfing while traveling in 2012. We've been married for ten years now! These days we explore the world together and work remotely.

If you ever watch a Coca Cola commercial on the TV in the Middle East/North Africa, there's a chance you may see me, dancing like a maniac.

I'm always down for some fun times with CSers. hitchhiking trip? Cool. Going for a few drinks at the bar/cafe? Totally. Jumping off something into the sea? Sure. Hiking in the mountains, camping some place beautiful, or generally hanging out? Let's do it. Explore some abandoned, Soviet era factory? Yaaahhhh. Or we can just chill at home. That's also great.

I love writing and photography. I'm a freelance writer. It (usually) pays the bills. I also love rusty old Mercedes' from the 1970s. Those certainly don't pay the bills.

It's always great to hang out with those folks who are in the midst of journeys across the planet. It makes me look forward to my next big adventure - wherever that may be. All in all I do my best to provide positive energy for everyone around :D

I love love love ancient history and culture. I fell in love with the Middle East - a place so steeped in history. It's breathtaking.

We have a little house in Dilijan National Park, Armenia. It's now a hostel - the Dilijan Hikers Hostel. It's spectacular in the summer. Gooooo there!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Making new friends from around the world, spontaneous adventuring, sharing stories, cooking together, just generally having great times with people doing whatever seems best at the time.

When I have a place to live I host - and when I don't have a place I can be found asleep on another CSers floor quite often.

Interests

Travel
Dogs
Cats
Sleeping on rooftops
Goats
Connecting people
Hitchhiking
Useful/useless knowledge
Taking Photos
Hiking

Jumping off stuff into the sea
Snowboarding
Cycling
Reading
Writing
Music
Languages
Video
Swimming in the sea
Swimming in rivers
Eating cheese
Eating ghormehsabzi
Eating pizza
Eating moutabel
Eating kebab
Eating chocolate
Eating falafel
Eating hummus
Eating baklava
Eating fesenjan
Eating fruit

Music, Movies, and Books

Spy Game
Into The Wild
Slumdog Millionaire
The Kite Runner
Harry Potter
Janapar

Ryan Bingham
Led Zepplin
Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan
Cinematic Orchestra
Gilles Peterson
Alexi Murdoch
Beirut

Bon Iver

Joe Strummer

Dan Mangan

Neil Young
Norah Jones
Sam Roberts
The Raconteurs
The White Stripes
Pink Floyd
Ben Böhmer

Flight of the Patriot - Yadi Sharifirad
The Next Moon - Andre Hue
Horned Pigeon/Maquis - George Millar
Band of Brothers - Stephen E Ambrose
Parachute Infantry - David Webster
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Harry Potter!
Baghdad Bulletin - David Enders
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Mood of Future Joys/Thunder and Sunshine - Al Humphreys
Anything by Ben MacIntyre

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got bored one day and applied for a one-year Canadian visa. Things happened after that.

Turning up in Armenia to stay for a couple of weeks. Things also happened there.

Syria. Amazing, despite all the bad stuff happening there. Incredible history.

Cycling from Canada to Mexico.

Long distance hitchhiking.

Lebanon. Live, love, Beirut :D

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I realise that this is totally not "One Thing"... but hey!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to talk with a British accent, snowboard, open a bottle of wine with a pen, make all different types of coffee, write, take photographs, ride a bike, go hitchhiking, or show you around whatever place in which I'm currently residing.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A love of life, cooking meals together, hitchhiking, stories from life and travels, help you deal with immigration paperwork (!), smiles, guided tours of Yerevan/Vancouver/Beirut/Istanbul, cycling, anything really!

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Armenia, Canada, Lebanon, Turkey, United Kingdom

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