CURRENT MISSION

'Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα, δε φοβούμαι τίποτα, είμαι λέφτερος.' I hope for nothing, I fear of nothing, I am free.
N. Kazantzakis

Uncle of 2, world traveller, former water skier, amateur tango dancer, Greek, psychology enthusiast, curious philosopher, avid chocolate eater but keeping it under control (LOL), and above all, a passionate man living his life in all directions, taking in all of life, until the last moment.

ABOUT ME

Kids in the pics are my nephews - love those cheeks!:)

Passionate, adventurous, water skier, philosopher and traveler, with a career in academia. Amateur tango dancer. I like working out and swimming, but I need that peer pressure for yoga, tennis and meditation.

Smiles are contagious. Be a carrier:)

'Modus operandi on the move: don't just see but explore the world, have as many international experiences as possible.'

Open minded with an insatiable zest for life. Always ready for new adventures and new experiences. Traveling is 1 of my 5 main passions in life; traveling is in my bones and I find it hard to resist the itch. How do you do it?

I am free spirited, I try to be as non presumptuous as I can, I don't label myself and I don't do that to others either, and in some aspects, I love the extremes. I love the summer but got in the sea at Pudor Bay Alaska, in the lake in Geneva in December and in the pool at zero degrees Celsius in Helsinki (right after the sauna), just because.:) As my favorite philosopher said, mediocrity is the true face of the devil.

I am happy and positive, and not easily shocked. I once met a guy who believes the earth is flat. It's amazing how people differ and what we learn through our differences. Talk to a stranger because you never know what the story is or what you may hear...

I am very easy going, and very approachable, easy to talk to (makes me wonder which people are not :)), funny, usually quite talkative, open, happy, positive, sportive, fun, I suck in multitasking (really, I do), tidy, clean, non-smoker, non-drinker (I don't like the taste), and chocolate is 1 of my 5 main passions in life. :)

My ultimate goal in life is to reach a state of detachment/internal freedom. Living life with no regrets is an important part of my outlook in life, as that helps us get everything out of our system and free ourselves. I try to live my life in such a way so that before I die, I can look back and be able to tell myself that if I could turn back, I would live my life exactly the same way, and would never change a thing. Be in a position that I feel that I have never wasted any chances. It doesn't matter what opportunities you come across in life - what matters is that you don't waste them. I personally believe that a happy life is lived twice: once when you live it, and once again when you think about it. I typically try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this specific day, to enjoy it, live it passionately, fully, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.

Sometimes I feel like Benjamin Button. They say that to love yourself, you cannot hate the experiences that shaped you. I am wondering if there is a hidden process of self-justification there. I do suffer from excessive self love (LOL), but we have to be unbiased if we want to be honest with ourselves.

Spiritual, I enjoy adventures, having deep conversations and genuine connections.

PHILOSOPHY

I hope for nothing. I fear of nothing. I am free. (Nikos Kazantzakis)

Internal freedom, striking the balance between living the present and planning the future, escape from details of everyday life, live life with passion until the very last moment, no regrets (I only have 1 so far...), and much else. Open up to coming to the world (influence from stoic philosophy :)) and become as free as possible. Traveling is a way.

Seize the day, and put the least possible trust in tomorrow.

Some nomads are at home everywhere.
Others are at home anywhere.
I see that these two are the same.

The best way to be a tourist is to live like a local, while the best way to be a local is to explore like a tourist.

Awareness is learning to keep yourself company.

Remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving.

Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

The hope is not a belief that something will end up well, it is a confidence that something is meaningful, no matter what the outcome will be. Václav Havel

It is not the man who has little, but the one who desires more, that is poor. Seneca, Epikouros

There are no borders, just horizons (Terence Blanchard)

Antonio Machado:
Traveller, the path is your tracks
And nothing more.
Traveller, there is no path
The path is made by walking.
By walking you make a path
And turning, you look back
At a way you will never tread again
Traveller, there is no road
Only wakes in the sea.

“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” Antonio Gramsci

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

You know what they say - there no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. Met wonderful people while traveling and this community helps me build up the momentum.

I love the idea of sharing a roof with someone you just met, maybe very different from you and with whom you have the chance to get to know a bit. It's a great experience, both being the guest and the host.

This community brings people closer. Make friends, make connections, share experiences and open up to the world.

Interests

Philosophy, law, water skiing, swimming, traveling, scuba diving, running, camping, kayaking, rafting, bunjy jumping, sky diving, cycling, mindfulness, meditation, massage, movies, women.

• photography
• massage therapy
• traveling
• philosophy
• massage
• travelling around the world

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: it's the specific movie that matters, not the genre (though I generally find scary movies uninteresting).

A few that spring to mind:

Scent of a woman, Sliding doors, An officer and a gentleman, Forrest Gump, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Bucket List, The Shawshank redemption, Devil's advocate, Sweet November, Autumn in New York, Before sunrise/sunset/midnight, Catch me if you can, The Imitation game, In pursuit of happiness, Atonement, Pride and prejudice, Where eagles dare, Judgement in Nuremberg.

Music: My favorite musician is Yianni but I listen to all kinds of music, from classical to rock, metal, pop, Greek, international, Thai, you name it.

Books: philosophy books.
My favorite writer is Nikos Kazantzakis and I like all the book of his that I read: Zorba the Greek, The Greek Passion (Christ Recrucified), Captain Michalis (Freedom and Death, The last temptation, Report to Greco and of course Ascetiki.

I read academic stuff, mostly papers/articles, but also books, such as Buchanan's Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law, Ratner's The Thin Justice of International Law: A Moral Reckoning of the Law of Nations, not much. When it comes to books of more general interest Thinking fast and slow, etc.

I read a few historical novels, on of them being the best of a novel prized writer and the other a novel read by third year undergraduate student of an ivy league university in the US. I verified what I thought of them as a teenager: nice reads, there are more meaningful books to read. When it comes to books, I am the opposite with movies, I'm picky. Probably because I am lazy and/or active, prefer living and would it down to read only something really worth it.

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking fast and slow

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Kissed a dolphin.
Swam with dolphins, a whale shark and sea lions, all out in the wild, all in one day, in Mexico.
Scuba diving at Pulau Sipadan in Malaysia: at the last dive, during our ascent, the boat was on top feeding the fish. As a result, all the fish started going up all around us in a spiral movement (it's much easier to describe that in real with body language and hand moves lol) and it was amazing just being surrounded by so much fish being so close to us. Surprised by a shark at the previous dive: I've seen many sharks in my dives, but that one came so close out of the no where, he really took me by surprise. That's just how indifferent they are to humans - well, the 93 per cent of the species that don't attack humans anyway.
Fansipan mountain climb in 5 hrs (in Vietnam) - most visitors do it in 2 days.
Represented my country abroad in two different statuses.
Got lost hiking in a forest, used the sun (and my sense of where the river was) to find my way back).
Night dive in Mexico - the first time I managed to run out of air.
Almost drowned for a kiss: almost ran out of air while diving at cenotes Dos Ojos because I had the silly idea of blowing a kiss to the camera, but I couldn't easily find the primary second stage of the regulator (that thing you have in our mouth to breathe) afterwards. Be positive: the photo came out good:)

Teach, Learn, Share

So far I have taught English, law, philosophy, swimming and water skiing and have only heard good feedback, so up to you if you want to give it a try:) So far, no one wanted to learn Greek, so if you become the exception, I would be curious to know why for the obvious reasons:)

Just started learning tango, I can teach you the basic steps.

Enjoy sharing the Greek Zorba outlook in life.

Always happy to learn from the people I meet, but I cannot determine what I will learn, since I cannot know whom I'll meet.

Specific things I want to learn about? Neuroscience, philosophy of emotions, psychology and Spanish.

Share? Life experiences. What else?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Meaningful conversations and endless stories.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Cyprus, England, Greece, Scotland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Wales

•