I'm Balázs (Balu) from Hungary. After a few months of meeting my Andalusian boyfriend, Alfredo, in 2021 in Budapest, I moved to Spain in 2022. We've been living together in Barcelona after a 5-month stopover in Sevilla.

My free time activities range from reading and binging Age of Empires 2 tournaments to exercise (running, gym, some bouldering) and catching my favorite artists in my favorite club at home with friends. Alfredo is always down for gym, occasionally game for clubbing but he gets waaay bored after spending a day at home. He's really into sunsets. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Alfredo and I are taking a 3-month break from work to backpack in SE Asia. We both work in software engineering, though it might change after our trip! One of the main goals of our trip is to widen our horizons, get out of our comfort zone, meet new people and do some introspection.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I used Couchsurfing in 2017 and 2018 when travelling the United States after working at a summer camp in Pennsylvania. I stayed with the kindest and most interesting people and I enjoyed gaining a sneak peek into local people's lives and learning from them. There is something magical in meeting your host from Chicago a year later in Berlin. Or spending a day together with a fellow couch surfer in San Francisco, hopping on a bus from Budapest to Prague to see them again months later, and then hosting them 6 years later in your home.

Though not through couch surfing, but we've hosted a lot of friends and friends of friends in our home in Barcelona. It's become a running joke that we're running a BnB at home from May through September. We find that this gives us much deeper relationships and connections.

Music, Movies, and Books

I've read most Harry Potter books in Hungarian, English, German and Spanish.  We like TV shows, too. Classics like Friends, The Office, Modern Family etc. Pretty much anything.

We listen to a lot of music at home, from Zara Larsson and Tate McRae through reggaeton and Hungarian artists all the way to techno and trance. Luckily we've had no neighbors ever since we've moved in. :D

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'm very grateful for the two summers I spent in the states. I found lifelong friendships there.

During my studies, I also spent two years teaching elementary school students programming. It's one of the most fulfilling things I've done besides working in constructions in Berlin.

Moving to Spain for love also worked out great, I highly recommend it! :D

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm always happy to have endless conversations on languages. I'll also spill any secrets you want from the billion-dollar company I work for or explain you a little bit about programming stuff. We can give you the best travel tips for Spain and Hungary. (Okay, decent tips.) Alfredo will help you pick your next car or phone. He's really into that stuff.

We're happy to learn about environmental topics, technology and we're definitely trying to get a deeper understanding of the countries and regions we visit. Like, did you know that Bali is not a country??? kiddiiiiiing

What I Can Share with Hosts

How about we take you out to try Spanish or eastern-european cuisine, if available? I've cooked for my hosts before but sometimes the difference in ingredients is not in our favor. 😆 We love cultural exchanges, too. Also, just come hang out with us, wherever we're visiting!

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Hungary, Spain