CURRENT MISSION

Currently our mission is to learn how to function as a family: kids are small, require a lot of attention, money is needed too, so we are learning how to satisfy some basic needs and yet develop ourselves

ABOUT ME

We are a family of four: Ieva (34, woman-friend and mom), Yuri (35, man-friend and dad), Martin (4, son and brother) and Andrey (1.5, son and brother). We love traveling and meeting new people and exploring different world-views. We have been to many places and can share some funny traveling stories. Now that we are two adults and two little boys, we work a lot and do not travel that much but hope it is only temporary. Traveling is the ultimate purpose of spending time and money we think.

PHILOSOPHY

Yuri: live and let live; we are much more like each other than we think; work with yourself rather than the 'global system'; we all need to give and receive more love; we are more than than our bodies, but we know ourselves and the world through our bodies so we need to nurture and love our bodies

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are new to coachsurfing and would like to participate both as hosts and as surfers

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

just starting but loving it already

Interests

Yuri works as a consultant and project manager in the field of regional development, urban planning, cross-border cooperation. Recent interest and the thing I'm developing is sustainable urban drainage (ponds, swales and stuff). My interests outside work are dance improvisation (contact improvisation), hiking, practical philosophy (I'm fascinated by Robert Anton Wilson, Buckminster Fuller), slacklining, yoga, body-mind connection related practices. Ieva works at home with Andrey and Martin and has little time for something else but is interested in dance and contact improvisation, gardening and decorating the place where we live. Martin goes to kindergarten, is interested in human body and medicine (so it seems ), loves Lego and books about geography and astronomy. When asked about the place where he would like to travel, most often mentions Australia. Andrey is more of an active type and loves motion and discovering new things, which can be tiring for his parents.

• books
• dancing
• yoga
• gardening
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• astronomy
• geography
• medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

Yuri: My favorite author is Robert Anton Wilson, I have been influenced by E.F.Schumacher, Richard Buckminster Fuller, Fritjof Capra, Timothy Leary.
I like classical piano music, Lila Downs, Manu Chao, world music, Linkin Park

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Yuri: My travel in South America on feet and on bike, is still the highlight of my life.
Ieva: giving birth to two kids and travel to Siberia in student years.

Teach, Learn, Share

Yuri: plenty of interests and experiences, I would love to share what I know or interested in (see above).
Ieva: most rich experience is in raising kids, if that is interesting to anyone:) (although every kid is completely different and needs his/her own approach)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Latvia, Sweden