My name is Vanessa, and I was born in Athens, where I have lived most of my life. I have lived in London for a few years and absolutely love this multicultural city.

I am currently a full-time travel writer / tour guide, working together with my boyfriend Dave, an English cyclist / blogger. You can read our blogs here
- International travel including Greece www.davestravelpages.com/
- Greece and Greek culture www.realgreekexperiences.com

If you are travelling to Greece, like my FB page, where I put up information about what is going on in Athens and Greece - www.facebook.com/realgreekexperiences

I love meeting people and showing them around, but my time is very limited! If you want to meet me, let me know, and I'll do my best!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I joined CS out of curiosity in 2006, and I was soon hooked, because I found the idea just brilliant. Until 2013, when things were a little less commercial, I was deeply involved in welcoming people to CS, organising events, hosting people and staying with people.

I was one of those volunteers that helped CS grow into the mainstream corporation it is today. I do not regret it at all, but I don't like the direction things have taken. Nevertheless, I still hope to meet cool people through the website - after all, it's hard to leave something that was the most important part of my life for several years, and that really helped me grow.

You can read a blog post with my thoughts on CS (I wrote this a few years ago) here https://vanidio.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/couchsurfing-the-end-of-an-era/

Interests

I love travelling as responsibly as I possibly can, meeting people and showing people around Athens. My favourite thing is introducing Greek food to guests - and I love learning about new foods from all around the planet!

My favourite outdoors activities are snorkeling and hiking. I have also been interested in yoga since 2001 and am a qualified RYT-200 yoga teacher since October 2018.

• arts
• singing
• modern art
• photography
• tattoos
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• walking
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• snorkeling
• table tennis
• tourism
• beaches
• food

Music, Movies, and Books

Music has always been very important to me and it's helped shape my personality and attitude. I used to sing in cover bands and jam bands. Not many of them made it on stage, but it was a great experience nevertheless!

I like rock, hard rock, heavy metal, jazz, blues, indie, experimental, instrumental (especially guitar)... I've seen many of my favourite bands live, including Porcupine Tree (my favourite band), Blackfield, Iron Maiden, Lenny Kravitz, the Rolling Stones, Duran Duran, Black Sabbath, Guns'n'Roses, Steve Vai, the Levellers, Morcheeba, Joe Satriani, Mark Knopfler, Al Di Meola, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Tangerine Dream, Van der Graaf Generator, Hawkwind, Roger Waters, the Blues Brothers, Nick Cave, Loreena McKennit, Les Paul, Motorhead, Jethro Tull, Alice Cooper, Paco De Lucia, Kiss, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, The Stranglers........

I love animation and fantasy movies - Disney, Miyazaki, Burton are among my favourites. Other that that, movies I've liked in the past include Clerks (absolutely insane fantastic movie), V for Vendetta, The Matrix, Dark City, Almost Famous, Velvet Goldmine, Memento, Amélie, Trainspotting, Ghost World, Human Traffic, Saving Grace, Waking Ned Devine, Clockwork Orange, Lost In Translation, American History X, The Lord Of The Rings, American Beauty, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Perfume, Fight Club, The Crow, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The Big Lebowski, Requiem for a Dream, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Zorba the Greek, Bonnie and Clyde.

I absolutely love a few short movies... here's a selection

* The octopus movie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BolgBSXjxeE

* Necktie - http://www.nfb.ca/film/necktie

* This really funny short movie that I was involved in - we made it with some CS people! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAFLB8bz7ro

I love magazines and comics, especially old-fashioned stuff like Disney, Asterix and Lucky Luke! As for books... there are many that I have liked in the past, but these days I prefer meeting and chatting with people.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'm pretty sure that something that was amazing to me, e.g. taking a year off work, might sound normal to you... And something that I consider normal, e.g. freecamping on the beach in summer, might be amazing for you :)

If I wanted to mention just one thing, the Athens riots in December 2008 is something I will never, ever forget. It showed me that everything can change in a moment... http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_greek_riots.html

I could list a number of places I've found amazing - but let's talk about them when we meet!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can give you information about Athens and Greece, show you around Athens and tell you all you need to know about Greek food and culture. Needless to say, I can teach you some basic Greek - including the words you are not supposed to know :)

I love Thai / Indian and other Asian cuisines... So if you had a few tips on cooking, it would be great! Also, I'd love to learn some simple phrases in the languages spoken in SE Asia... Whether I will be able to pronounce them is another thing.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My smile, my enthusiasm and my knowledge of Greece!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Montenegro, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Greece, Thailand, United Kingdom

• 

•