CURRENT MISSION

To live each moment one at a time

ABOUT ME

UPDATE 2022: It is only Ariel, and the cat Melvin now living in the house. 🐈

I am mostly painting now. Check my art in Instagram @arielpaintingsgallery

We are a couple who met in 2007 in the Lake District, England, while teaching crazy London kids outdoor and environmental skills. We then went on to travel around all of the UK and Europe (though there's still lots of exploring to be done).

Many of the requests ask us about things to do in Melbourne. We thought it would be easier to put that information in a blog. The first post is about free things you can do in Melbourne:
http://www.arielliz.com/melbourne-a-local-perspective/

We're enthusiastic about meeting and helping people, and this is one reason we joined Couchsurfing. Liz studied primary teaching, majoring in Teaching English as a Second Language, because of wanting to help care for the world and its people in a small way. She is now teaching Prep students (5/6-year-olds) - an exhausting but delightful job :) Ariel has worked for a charity that helps seafarers in difficulties all around the world (his language skills came in handy here) and has taught Spanish (where his language skills came in even more handy!) He is now beginning to set up a social enterprise based on vertical gardening in small spaces. You can read more at www.greenteach.org.

We love to laugh at random, everyday things (including, in Liz's case, week-old jokes at unexpected moments) and sing at random moments. Some of Liz's regular earworms include "Flash", "Everywhere", "The Power of Love", "What Is Love" and "Perfect" (yes, there is a strong 80s and 90s theme here :))

We're keen to meet new people, make new friends and learn about other cultures and lifestyles, which is one reason for our travels (in Ariel's case, very extensive ones, from Madrid to India by land in a year).

PHILOSOPHY
1. The environment is important. Treat it well.
2. People are important. Treat them right.
3. Education is important. With education, all things are possible.
(Crêpe stand, University of Melbourne. Profound and sums it up perfectly!)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

By getting to know other members and offering our couch to surfers, now that we have our own space to share.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Apart from hosting lots of wonderful people (please see references for details):

Liz: Skillsharing sessions with a local London group and teaching swing dancing in exchange for learning belly dancing.

Ariel: couchsurfing in Lithuania and Latvia.

We have both WWOOFed in the UK, Australia, France, Spain and Belgium, doing everything from making wood sculptures to harvesting olives.

We have recently published a book about our Couchsurfing experiences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLHtyZ2bHok
http://www.arielliz.com/books.

We just recently had a radio interview about our book, which you can hear here: http://greatdestinationsradioshow.com/2016/05/30/fancy-a-cheap-holiday-try-couchsurfing/. We talk about some advantages of Couchsurfing, as well as some tips for newbies!

Interests

To start with: music of all types (especially jazz, swing, ambient and world music, singing, the guitar, the cello and karaoke :)), swing dancing (Liz), languages, writing, poetry, drawing, veggie gardening and permaculture, education, living sustainably, being outdoors, building eco-houses, independent or arthouse films, circus skills, contact juggling, flower sticks... and of course travelling.

We have a personal website with all our creative projects: www.arielliz.com

• cats
• writing
• books
• poetry
• singing
• dancing
• swing dancing
• education
• environment
• yoga
• walking
• gardening
• movies
• traveling
• juggling
• blogging
• drawing
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• karaoke
• world music
• outdoor activities
• teaching
• freelancing
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

We love music of any genre at all. This includes world (especially African), folk, alternative, 80s, 90s, jazz, and swing. Some of our favourite artists are: Overtone, Coldplay, Cat Stevens, the Cat Empire, Fleetwood Mac, The Furbelows, Joni Mitchell, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Noah and the Whale, Woohoo Revue, basically every swing band/artist ever, and many more. Mostly we listen to compilations that have a special meaning or are from a particular period in our lives.

We also occasionally try our hand at songwriting, and have an alter ego as the folk band Cappuccino Foam. You can see our music videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1C7wUNVURg

We also love films - mostly comedy, independent, arthouse and world ones. Before Sunrise, Cinema Paradiso, The Motorcycle Diaries, Amelie, Lord of the Rings (and of course the books), My Life Without Me, El Hijo de la Novia, El Secreto de sus Ojos, Blood Diamond, Goodbye Bafana, Invictus, Inside Llewyn Davis, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires, Intouchables, Silver Linings Playbook, Men in Tights, Naked Gun, The Princess Bride. Also British comedies like Red Dwarf, Extras, Black Books, The IT Crowd, Blackadder, Monty Python.

Books: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Lord of the Rings, One Day, Life of Pi, Le Petit Prince, Doctor Zhivago, The Master and Margarita, Ish, Mao's Last Dancer, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Long Walk to Freedom, Just Like Tomorrow, Cry The Beloved Country, John O'Farrell and Harry Potter- some of many.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1. The Edge of the World - a cliff on Inis Mór, Aran Islands, with a sheer drop to the crashing sea and nothing between you and America.

2. Palawan in the Philippines. The most amazing natural beauty ever, with palm trees, white sand, warm sea, an underground river and rainbow fish - and the best halo halo in the world.

3. The Sahara Desert at sunset, midnight and sunrise, viewed from a camel. Full of colour, and genuinely awesome. The contrast between the bright blue sky and the deep orange sand is striking, and you feel like the only person in the world.

... and many more (in the past and to come!)

Please mention one of these places in your request so that we know you've read our profile. Thanks!

Teach, Learn, Share

Is learning Spanish on your bucket list? Have you always wanted to take up swing dancing? We can teach you both of these, and how to bake bread, preserves or yogurt. Come and learn from us - and we are interested to learn anything you want to teach us :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Philippines, Spain, United Kingdom

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