G'day! I'm Michael. I'm from Perth, Australia but my family is Polish and I also call Krakow my home. A few years ago now I completed my studies and graduated with a degree in Engineering. I work in the oil and gas industry in Karratha on a FIFO basis (3 weeks on 3 weeks off).

Whenever I have time off I like to go to the beach, play sports or travel. I love Europe and often travel there to visit friends and family in Poland. I'm open, outgoing, spontaneous and find it difficult to be serious, often finding the funny side of things (some would say I'm "immature"). Sometimes I can talk non-stop about a topic, other times I like to quietly listen and learn something new. I love photography and rarely go anywhere without my camera. You can check out some of my photos on my 500px website or instagram.

PHILOSOPHY
One of my favourite quotes:
"You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book(Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom(when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this(or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death." - Anais Nin

My philosophy is to always keep things moving, dynamic and not to find myself hibernating, stuck in one spot.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I like to meet people from around the world, sharing experiences and common interests, discussing and debating different topics.

Interests

Photography, architecture, sports, travelling, European history and culture.

• architecture
• photography
• traveling
• travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
European (mainly French) cinema. Some of my favourites are: Troi Couleurs (Bleu, Blanc, Rouge), La fille sur le pont, Diner de Cons, Tais Toi, Amelie, Life is Beautiful, La Finestra di fronte
Some Hollywood and others, e.g. Godfather trilogy, Scarface, Untouchables, Heat, Leon, Ronin, Se7en, Pianist, Schindlers List, Inglourious Basterds, Amadeus, The Boat that Rocked.
Directors: Polański, Wajda, Kieślowski, Scorsese, Coppola, Forman, Jackson.
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Liam Neeson, Monica Belluci, Sophie Marceau

TV Shows:
How I met your mother, Friends, Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place

Music: Alternative/rock/blues and French/Italian/Spanish/Polish music.
Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who, The Clash, Hendrix, Gipsy Kings, Santana, Janis Joplin, Ben Folds, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Nouvelle Vague, Parov Stelar, Black Keys, Hallyday, Dassin, Aznavour, Becaud, Adamo, Noir Desir, Grechuta, Republika, and so on.

Books: Hemingway, Dumas, Wilde, Clancy, Kolakowski

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Flew on 78 flights in 2016 (and over 400 flights since 2010)

Teach, Learn, Share

Photography - still a lot to learn, but I can also offer what I've learnt so far.
Sports - Swimming, Tennis, Football, Table Tennis. Have played all of these competitively and still enjoy them all :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

My photos, travel stories and good company :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Poland