DISCLAIMER: this profile has been written a while ago and desperately needs some editing. Maybe I’ll wait a few more years when the time is right. No one reads those profiles anyway, right? 🤷‍♂️

I'm on a digital nomad (hacker & entrepreneur) on a journey of self-discovery.

Travelling is an essential part of my life, and it fits organically into what I'm doing: developing and researching travel tech while... traveling.

I like to learn, share ideas, and discover different cultures.

Here is more about me: http://nikolayderkach.com/
I write on medium: https://medium.com/@nderkach
And hack couchsurfing: www.toptal.com/back-end/reverse-engineering-the-private-api-hacking-your-couch

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

A friend of mine invited me to a CS meetup in the summer of 2012 when I'd just move to France.

I fell in love with the community right away and became a regular there.

Starting the fall of 2013 I was finally able to host people and it was an amazing experience. I recall the first month I was hosting people non stop. I've also had a great time travelling around West Coast and staying at people's places there as well.

I've met so many incredible people from all over the world, made lots of friends and this whole experience truly changed my life.

Interests

I'm always interested to learn new things. I like being challenged.

Travelling is my passion. You meet new people and it gives you perspective on your life. It always feels like I haven't travelled enough.

I'm very much into competitive sports: mountain biking, swimming, skying. Sometimes I just need that adrenaline kick to feel more alive.

I like taking calculated risks, when I was in college I was quite an avid poker player.

I'm made a career as a software engineer, but programming for me is merely a way to solve problems.

I truly like to create new stuff, find a problem worth solving and perfectly execute the solution.

One of my recent hobbies is biking, I've learned how to ride a motorcycle, and can't get enough of it!

Music, Movies, and Books

I think I've basically seen any great/good/at least half-way decent movie ever made, so if I bump into a couple good movies in a year, that's quite a success. Not trying to sound like an arrogant hipster btw. But seriously recommend me some good movies!

I adore music, which is like a source of energy and inspiration for me. The genre doesn't really matter, as it's all about the quality. That said, I still have some preferences, in particular electronic (Ambient, Downtempo, IDM, you name it) and instrumental/modern classical music.

I tend to read mostly technical, applied psychology, self-development and business books, I don't really like to waste my time on fiction.
Once in a while I'd get some philosophical insight - I enjoy the works of Albert Camus.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Got fired from my last job, twice and was handsomely paid for it, I invested those money in my startup and funded travelling.

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, France, Germany, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Thailand, United States