Dear potential surfers,
Please read and understand this: https://support.couchsurfing.org/hc/en-us/articles/200640010-How-do-I-write-a-good-couch-request-

Currently (as of August 2024) I can't host. I'll update this profile whenever I get around to it.
Most recent references of mine can be found on (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/lauramacchiato).

CURRENT MISSION

Working, doing boring adult shit & waiting for the next opportunity to get on the road...

ABOUT ME

My friends would probably say that if I was any more laid back I would fall over.

Sometimes I play the guitar but mostly I just listen to good music and chill. I'm the kind of person who writes silly emails to radio shows to win prizes that have little or no value just for the hell of it. Or who offers to trade something of great value for something of much less value just because it seemed like a cool thing to do.

Being outside and on mountains is the thing that excites me most. The weather doesn't matter too much. I come from a place where it rains all the time!

Oh yeah, and I have a beard now so I guess I should update my pictures sometime soon. It's not big or cool like these people, but it's mine. http://www.reddit.com/r/beards

Don't you think beards are awesome?

PHILOSOPHY

I will literally try anything once, no matter how silly. You cannot know if you like something or not until you try it yourself.
Ok, maybe not heroin, but practically anything.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosted not nearly enough.
I get to events when I can and meet other CSer's for all sorts of activities.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Overwhelmingly positive! I met have met so many interesting people through CS, at all sorts of things; be they surfing, hosting, dinners, yoga in the park or hiking up mountains.

The two CS road trips I did in NZ were awesome. CS on a yacht the first time, and campervan trip from Auckland to Christchurch via East Cape the second.

I met a Kiwi lady at a winery in the Northland of NZ who had been to the coolest music venue I have ever heard of, that happens to be in my home county, and is a bit of a secret only known to locals. Ever been to Jim 'O' the Mills? Me neither, but it's on my list of things to do. Travel gives me these bizarre experiences of being as far as possible from home, yet finding something close to home to relate to with the people I meet.

Interests

Reading sometimes consumes me if I have a good book. I'm like guitar but I play only because its fun.

I love hiking on the weekends, and just being in the mountains in general. And cycling, hitchhiking, learning to surf, climbing things, getting lost and getting unlost.

Sometimes I get very into watching sport, more times I ignore it. I play rugby and run in races like Spartan Race & Tough Mudder. I used to play the irish sport hurling but I was never very good. Check it out, its awesome! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmzivRetelE

I like trying new beers an awful lot. Sometimes I even brew up some of my own. If you surfed with me and brought just one bottle of microbrew from your town to say thanks I'd be the happiest man alive. But I don't expect it at all. Seriously, I know what its like to travel mad cheap!

This question should be: What are you not interested in?
For me about the only really popular thing I don't care for is soccer/football. I'm weird I know.

• culture
• books
• cooking
• beer
• yoga
• running
• flying
• yachting
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• bouldering
• woodworking
• music
• guitar
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• kite surfing
• spelunking
• camping
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sailing
• skydiving
• sports
• rock climbing
• soccer
• rugby
• hitchhiking
• road trips
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

My musical taste is fairly eclectic: 2 Many DJ's - Arcade Fire - Bothy Band - Carl Cox - Doors - Elbow - Fleet Foxes - Gillian Welch - Handsome Boy Modelling School - Iggy & The Stooges - Jimmy Cliff - Kasabian - Liam O' Flynn - Modest Mouse - Nirvana - Offspring - Pendulum - Queen - Radiohead - Stone Roses - Tchaikovsky - Underworld - Violent Femmes - White Stripes - XTC - Yes - Zero 7

If a movie has Will Ferrell then I'm there. Or something good and German like Goodbye Lenin! Or art housey like Tarsems The Fall.

Or movies like Inception, Shutter Island, The Adjustment Bureau, Trance, Black Swan, Layer Cake, In Bruges, The Departed, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Inglourious Basterds. Pretty much anything by the Cohen Brothers and Tarantino.

I many have seen Boondock Saints, Team America & The Big Lebowski dozens of times each.... And I might also be a Father Ted fanatic!

Mostly read non fiction unless you can find me something with a solid plot and characters with depth. Most recent fiction I loved was The Hunger Games (not the movies though, they kinda sucked). Douglas Adams is my hero for taking the risk in writing the funniest book of all time. I think I've read Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy more than 5 times and I always find something new to laugh at.

Favourite authors include: Ernest Hemmingway, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Bill Bryson and Jack Kerouac.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the coolest things I have done was yoga at sunset on a beach in Thailand after a day of rock climbing.

And in 2013 I did a 6 month trip that was not nearly long enough. Ireland > Scotland > California > Australia > New Zealand > Singapore > Malaysia > Thailand.

Teach, Learn, Share

Want to learn some woodworking?
I'd love to show you some stuff. Maybe we can build something cool like a Treasure Chest! Only problem is I don't have any tools anymore. We'd figure something out.
I wrote up some of my projects on Instructables. http://www.instructables.com/member/ezcheese/

I don't know what else I can teach you other than some Irish culture. But I'm always cool with telling travel stories and hearing about them.

Stuff I want to learn:

-- Surfing
-- Kite Surfing
-- Scuba diving
-- Sailing
-- Caving
-- Canoeing
-- Slacklining
-- Rock climbing & Bouldering (I know only a little)
-- Improve my map reading/navigation
-- Camping/outdoor skills
-- Gourmet cooking
-- Mechanical stuff; like working on bicycles and cars
-- How to ride a motorcycle
-- Skydiving
-- How to fly a plane
-- Irish language (Yeah, school didn't really help with that one)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States