upd: 1.10.2024. 📍important notice 📍

couchsurfing is a community built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding. one of the most meaningful and sustainable ways we can keep this spirit alive is by leaving references for one another. it’s not only a way to show appreciation to your host, event organizer, or surfer but it also helps build trust within the community.

personally i see it as a small yet important way to remember the time we’ve shared. i always take the time to write a reference and hope you, as a potential guest, host, surfer, or meetup attendee can do the same by leaving a few thoughtful words.

if for any reason you feel it’s too much to ask or prefer not to leave a reference, i kindly request that you refrain from my invitation or/and inviting me to host, surf, or attend my events. i see it as a bare minimum for the time and energy we invest in each other, and if that’s not something you’re comfortable with, i completely understand. please consider directing your invitations elsewhere 🙏🏻

peace and love ❤️

upd 2023:

hey everyone,

together with my hubby chenbin (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/chenbinma) we moved to latin america. we are in colombia atm. we will be based here for a while, getting to know local culture. in plans for nearest future:

dec22: xmas with parents in mainz, germany 🇩🇪
jan23: egypt 🇪🇬
feb23: new york 🇺🇸
feb-may23: colombia 🇨🇴
jun23: costa rica 🇨🇷
jul-sep23: ecuador 🇪🇨
oct-nov23: cuba 🇨🇺
december23: germany 🇩🇪
jan24: tunisia 🇹🇳 and lebanon 🇱🇧
feb24: china 🇨🇳
mar24: back to nepal 🇳🇵❤️
apr-jun24: trekking in himalayas, nepal 🇳🇵
jul24: tea gardens exploration in yunnan, china 🍃 🇨🇳
aug24: tea gardens exploration in wuyi mountains, china 🍃 🇨🇳
sep24: vietnam 🇻🇳
oct24: sri lanka 🇱🇰
nov24: bali 🇮🇩
dec24: xmas with parents in mainz, germany 🇩🇪
jan25: austria 🇦🇹
feb25: tbd 😁👌🏻
mar25: qatar 🇶🇦
apr25: back to nepal 🇳🇵❤️

if you want to follow our travels and get recent updates from the road - feel free to add me on fb or/and wechat where I blog daily and share our recent discoveries:

fb: https://www.facebook.com/arsa.longa
wechat: arsa-longa

these days we don’t surf/host much cause travel full time and moving around permanently. I also have part-time job which I do online hence not very flexible with timings sometimes. but if our time&schedule permits still are very glad to catch up with interesting folks coming from different backgrounds. if you are somewhere around or atm travelling here - drop us a message, we will be glad to chat with you over coffee/tea/lunch or offer even a city stroll. since we just moved to the region, we don’t know much but will be happy to discover it with you ☺️🙏🏻

best regards and saludos,
a.

upd, april 2021:

hey everyone,

in april I moved to nepal and since 2021 am based in wonderful place - phewa lake in pokhara. here I lead peaceful yogic life together with my friends and as usually try to get absorbed by the local himalayan culture as much as possible. I'm absolutely in love with the current location and divers nepali culture in particular, and for a while will be here, exploring beloved himalayas.

i have fairly busy schedule and currently enjoy very disciplined and organized lifestyle, cause continue working on numerous projects connected to my academic research. moreover due to booming social life in pokhara currently i barely have time and energy for hosting, surfing and meet ups with couchsurfers. i fairly seldom check my inbox here and frankly speaking am a bit tired of big number of similar, inpersonal inquiries. that's also the reason to reply to messages a bit on delay - currently motivation to check inbox = 0. beg your pardon for that in advance and wish you nice stay and a lot of fun in pokhara ❤️

best regards and shanti 🙏

CURRENT MISSION

there is one chinese proverb that i like a lot for a long period of time already. it says:
读万卷书，行万里路
read ten thousand books and walk ten thousand miles. this saying implies the balanced combination of theoretical studies and practical experiences. but if to take it literally: i indeed keep reading and walking. i enjoy my way.

ABOUT ME

i'm arsa - full-time traveller, anthropologist and artist. former graduate in history of arts, polyglot and big chinese-tea-fan :)

one of the things i am quite glad about has been risky decision after three years of travelling around the world to turn two of my passions (travelling and studies) into my profession: i work as a researcher and cultural anthropologist. currently my academic focus is placed in particular on cultures of china, india and nepal, which are my favourite places in the world ❤

i usually lead very minimalist and peaceful life with my partner and our two kitties between china (where we live and host), india/nepal (where my research area is located) and germany (where i visit my parents every summer), leaving very often to many other amazing places either for my research, business trips, ethnographic fieldwork or just for fun.

unfortunately i have a tendency to overwork, that's why when i am not travelling, i can be just terribly overloaded with obligations connected to studies, academic projects and family. it is also the reason why sometimes it takes a bit longer to reply to messages. i beg pardon for that in advance.

PHILOSOPHY

i'm vegan and I'm very happy about it ;)

moreover i don't smoke, don't drink alcohol and don't like any kind of drugs. i usually avoid crowded, loud party places and prefer mindful, calm peaceful environment suitable for conversations instead. when I'm alone, I tend to land in bed around 8-9pm and wake up before sunrise. i love morning yoga, meditations, long walks/hikes/trekking, longlasting tea sessions and inspiring meetings with interesting people ❤ without anything else I would survive I guess 😊

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

couchsurfing is for me is a great chance to meet interesting people, who are also wondering about the world around and want to know more about its variety. i dont distinguish much between locals, expats or travellers, i am glad to meet everyone from cs-community to know more about her or his story.

moreover since 10 years (!) couchsurfing all over the world has been connecting me with amazing bunch of friends who are interested in intercultural exchange, in deep and exciting conversations about everything and long lasting friendships. i highly cherish every acquaintance made through this site and am very thankful for the kindness, care and love I got due to cs members.

now the 'best' part for all those horny guests of mine, who mistake cs for tinder and spam my postbox with very particular intentions:

if you happen to be very "open-minded", cute and handsome guy who is desperately trying to find in my description something about my extreme "openmindness" and "live life to the fullest", information below is exactly meant for you. please read it twice if needed!!!!

if you are here cause you are looking for the love of your life, white chick for the lonely evening or just a western female stranger who is up to share bed with you after one drink, its definitely the wrong place to try your luck. it's better NOT (!) to send me your offer. I still take my time to reply politely and clearly to each of it but since in average I'm receiving up to 10 (!) random messages/offers per day (!!!), I'm kind of VERY VERY bored of it. that's why I would be so grateful if you just skip it. it would save your and my time and I would appreciate it very much.

i'm NOT interested neither in (I list all those offers I receive here regularly): one night stands, casual sex with you even if you think you are very open-minded guy, nor group sex, threesomes with you and your friend's girlfriend/threesome with me and my partner, orgias on your roof terrace and/or swimming pool, eye-candy/hostess or modelling jobs, tantra sex or ayurvedic massage. i deeply dislike NUDISM in all its forms and can assure you for 141% to have absolutely NO interest in anything that is connected to it: nudist households, nudist events, nude fotosessions, nude posing for your new artpiece. the same - with erotic movie shooting and actually with any kind of activity that reduces my personality and all the experiences to the colour of my nude skin and the length of nude legs. sorry, I'm really NOT (!) into it. and not into any kind of flirting with you. I'm not into daily chatting, skype calls and whatsapp conversations either. sorry for that.

Interests

people and their stories, art, dreams, travelling, tea, literature, photography and languages

• arts
• literature
• photography
• languages
• travelling
• tea
• dreams
• people and their stories

Music, Movies, and Books

I love books and can speak about it hours. I have hundreds of favourite writers but if i had to pick couple of names, then leo tolstoy, thomas mann and jack kerouac would be maybe the ones who have been having enormous influence on my lifestyle.

with movies situation became a bit strange. years on the road without pc and proper internet connection led to the habbit not to watch anything but the real life happening in front of my eyes. that's why now I have some difficulties to put myself in front of the screen for a few hours. recently I barely watch movies. I prefer meetups with guests and teatimes with friends instead.

my favourite music is silence and the serene sounds of nature— the gentle flow of rivers, the rustling of forests, hum of insects and the melodies of birdsong.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

since september 2014 i'm officially not resident of germany: I gave up settled life, my comfort zone and finally broke free. since that time i consider myself full-time traveller. behind 65 countries, 4 continents, 7 languages i use in casual talks with my friends almost every day, hundreds of cities and the sweet memories of more than thousands of loveliest people i met on the way. among them bunch of close buddies all over the world who i can't imagine my life without any more.

often im asked, what you are searching for? inspite of the fact that i do know now for sure how does is it feel to sleep on the street and to be starving during a week^^ i guess i don't search for anything. the way is already the goal of mine.

and what does the way give me? hm... the most amazing thing i have learned so far it's empathy towards entire world. first of all this are of course people around. they are my biggest addiction and inspiration so far. it are also all living creatures. this are also traditions and different lifestyles. the borders (that anyway exist mostly in our heads) fell down at some point completely and the whole world suddenly became so tiny, so open and due it, so unprotected. and the best what i can do for it is to love it as it is. to love, to respect. to care about. to preserve. to try to understand even it's difficult and sometimes painful. unconditional love is a biggest challenge and my personal goal. i can't messure it, i can't compare it but i just feel it like it is. and i have to admit it feels amazingly good. now after all i can't even think about the time when i had something else in my head. and that's my personal "result" or main "achievement".

Teach, Learn, Share

well, as a former primary school teacher, tutor, trainer, project manager, research assistant, mentor and wannabe professor, I indeed got few skills in teaching all around the world - if you are interested or curious in something out of my fields of competence, I would be more than glad to share it with you.

but if not, don't mind at all, I would highly cherish the chance just to listen to everything you want to say. if you don't want to say anything, it will be also okay ❤🙏

What I Can Share with Hosts

my world^^

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Åland Islands

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Nepal, Russian Federation, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine

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