CURRENT MISSION

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ABOUT ME

- British Asian
- Born and raised in a sleepy and small city in England
- Big fish, small pond syndrome. I went off to take degrees in English and Law, and then worked at an international law firm and a couple of investment banks in London
- Got bored of the rat race and quit the city for a backpack. Travelled through 30 countries over 3 years
- Decided to become an English teacher (earn money and experience another culture at the same time)
- Have taught for half a year in Berlin and just over 3 years in Madrid!

That's about it really. For now!

PHILOSOPHY

My name comes from the Sanskrit word "vipra", which refers to someone who is a brahmana or philosopher. Sadly, my values have not lived up to my name yet, but I might get there one day! Currently, I try to keep things as simple as possible, treat others as I wish to be treated myself, eat well, laugh often and stay in good company. What more could you want?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I live in the Lavapies region of Madrid, which is about 5 minutes away from Sol. A lot of cool bars and people here! I work 9-5/6 during the week, so I'm only free during the evenings to hang out. Weekends are much better!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It started off as a way of getting a free couch but it quickly became much more than that. From the way I have been welcomed into homes, flats and families, I have always been grateful and impressed at the sheer quality and diversity of people out there. Now that I am off the travel path for a while, I would like to give something back to people passing through Madrid.

Interests

Travelling, trekking, picking my nose, eating (not the contents of my nose obviously!), staring at interesting people...

• fitness
• traveling
• eating out
• gymnastics
• trekking

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

- Russian/Indian
- Dance
- Classical
- Random songs I encountered on my travels

Movies

- Life of Pi
- The Painted Veil
- The Hours

Books

- Biographies (Gandhi, Brando, Dr King...)
- Recipe books (seriously!)
- The "classics" (Austen, Woolf, Joyce etc)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Too many to choose from, but a few highlights would be:

- Hiking through Borneo and seeing rare plants and animals, and having a beach all to myself (apart from the huge tortoise that was dead near the rocks!).

- Seeing the Taj Mahal and temples of India.

- Surviving the Bangkok riots.

- Eating the best ice cream of my life in Rome, and the nicest pizzas in Naples.

- Trekking to Everest Base Camp.

- Staying cool after a group of Cambodian girls placed this huge spider on me (it was the size of my fist!).

Teach, Learn, Share

- Death is not the worst that can happen to men (Plato)
- In a gentle way, you can shake the world (Gandhi)
- If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other (Mother Teresa)

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Spain, United Kingdom

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