Hey there world! I´m Manuel, but everyone just calls me Manu.
I´m from a small village in South Germany (Bavaria) near to Augsburg, home of the great Bundesliga football club FC Augsburg ;) Augsburg is quite near to Munich (most people don´t know Augsburg but nearly everyone knows Munich, so it´s much easier to explain it that way :P)
Currently I´m on a trip around the world for 1 year!
My way took me all around South America, Mexiko, Cuba, L.A. and New Zealand and probably some other interesting countries. Right now I´m enjoying the beautiful South Island of Middle Earth!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I´m on a trip around the world for 1 year at the moment. I just finished my A levels last year and worked a lot during my school time and after the exams to save enough money to fulfil my dream, travelling the world! Now I´m already travelling since october 2015 and it still feels like I left home just yesterday as time is passing incredible fast during the travels..

Before I started I heard and read a lot about couchsurfing and the opportunity to get in contact with local people outside of the usual accomodations like hostels etc.
The first 3 1/2 months of my trip I travelled with two friends from Germany who now returned to our home to start studiying. But as you already know I planned a little bit more, so I still got a few days left :P
At this time couchsurfing was difficult as we were 3 guys, but now alone I´m ready for that new experience of travelling :)
Before I had the opportunity to stay with locals in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia due to other connections or just destiny (I met my girlfriend in La Paz, Bolivia and lived one and a half months there with here before I continued my trip).
These experiences were different, way different to all the hostels. During those stays I learnt a lot more about the culture and history, improved my spanish really much and seen places "normal" tourists will hardly ever see.
It´s exploring, it´s eye-opening and it´s inspirational.
I listened to many storys you´ll never find in a Lonely Planet. These are the real experiences, the moments that you can´t buy, moments you can get without paying a cent, but gaining an immense value of experience. Another view of life.

Interests

Football, Football Freestyle, Sports, Travelling, Adventures, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Nature, Languages, Writing, Creative Writing, Drawing, Psychology, Movies, Music, Animals, Cultures, Exploring, Filming, Photography, Being Creative, Dreaming, ...

• animals
• culture
• writing
• books
• photography
• beer
• clubbing
• movies
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• equestrian
• fishing
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• skydiving
• sports
• soccer
• swimming
• history
• languages
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

My favourite movie.. hard decision, but it must be The lord of the rings as I watched every part about one hundred times and still love every second of it :)
“It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Love the Shawshank Redemption aswell though.

To be honest I acutally don´t read too much, but there are some books about a young guy in a pretty cool school who fights an evil man without a nose with his friends.. I love those books.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Started an around the world trip after my final exams :)
During the last months I had lots of amazing experiences and it´s hard to mention them all..
The hardest thing I´ve done so far (in my whole life) was to climb a 6090m high mountain in Bolivia, that was an incredible experience and definitely worth the pain! (even if I almost fell of the edge once..)

Other nice things have been for example:
- lived one week in a Favela in Rio
- swimming with pink river dolphins (and accidently alligators) in the bolivian amazon
- dowhnhill mountainbiking on the world´s most dangerous road
- Roadtrip through Brazil, North Argentina and Paraguay
- Piranha fishing (and eating)
- Trekking through the bolivian Pampas looking for Anacondas and Cobras
- seen Hyazinth macaws (in danger of extinction) and sloths in the wild nature
- Snorkeling with rare sea turtles in Mexico
- Horseback riding in the amazing cuban landscape
- Skydive in the glacier country, New Zealand (!!!)
- and so much more!!

Teach, Learn, Share

"Traveling is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

Germans are punctual, serious and love beer. Well.. That´s probably all true, but there is more to expolore in the german culture than just the stereotypes! So feel free to ask, it´s one of the things I can share with you.
Right now I´m also trying to teach my girlfriend some german.. which is quite difficult to be honest - but if you want to learn some german words - I guess I´m able to help you out :P

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would consider myself a shy person, but we shy guys have some kind of a superpower: an open ear! So feel free to share your stories with me, I´ll definitely gonna listen :)
But thanks to my last months in South- and Middle America I aswell have some interesting stories to tell, so there´s also a lot to share!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Macao, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bolivia, Germany