CURRENT MISSION

Edit 2023: I just got back home after traveling for 11 months in 2023 (Brazil, Europe, Colombia overland to Mexico) and I will start hosting from now (January 2024) on again.

Pls read my profile if you want to stay with me, and introduce yourself. Most of the time my guest bed room is taken by biker friends that are passing through, but pls send a request and maybe it is free for you. Or you can sleep in the hammock, if you want. Read this profile all the way to the end.

ABOUT ME

My name is Mika, I was born in 1969 in Germany. My mother is from Finland, my father is German. I grew up in Germany and went to university in Bochum . I have a degree in civil engineering, and I worked as a site engineer and site manager in Germany, Bulgaria and Finland.
From 1999 to 2005 I traveled around the world on a Yamaha XT600Z Tenere, sponsored by Yamaha Motors Japan, covering 252,000km visiting around 70 countries in 6 1/2 years. I have been riding motorcycles since I was 16 and I ride every day. My passions are motorcycling and traveling, and I can't imagine a life without traveling on a motorcycle.
People ask me very often about my favorite places and without hesitation I can say, that Iran and Colombia are on top of my list. The best motorcycling countries are Namibia, Argentina, Australia and the Far East of Russia.
In my opinion the world is run by lunatics, I try to avoid the worst of them. In 1994 I gave away my TV set and in 2007 I stopped reading mainstream newspapers. I boycott the apartheid state of Israel, because it is committing a genocide on the Palestinian population. I also boycott Amazon, McDonalds, Coca Cola and Nestle, but you might see me drinking my Fernet Branca with Coke, but if you know the Argentine spirit, you'd understand.
In 2010 I went back to South America and in 2012 I made the little village of Samaipata in the Bolivian mountains my home. Sharing a house with friends, I got introduced to Couchsurfing and we had some Couchsurfing parties in the house.
My next journey, which will start in April 2015, will take me through Europe and back to the Far East of Russia, before entering China for the first time. The idea is to ride around China for a couple of months and then continue to Central Asia and the Middle East. It is difficult to say how long this journey will take, maybe a year, maybe a bit longer. Who knows? (Edit: It took 7 months and I spend 2 of them riding around in China, since Nov. 2015 I am back home in Samaipata)
I don't use Fakebook or any similar websites. And I don't have a cellular phone on me all the time, and for sure not the one that people call a “smart“ phone, I call it a“stupid“ phone. Also I don't navigate around with a Gps, I talk to people and ask for directions. But I use email on my laptop, that I carry on my travels.
The idea of just being “Couchsurfing friends” online is something I don't see as real, friends are people that I have met in person and spent time together with, so please don't send me friend requests. I always say, people have 2523 friends on Fakebook, but none in real life. So, don't be offended when I don't add you as a friend on Couchsurfing.
As one of my objectives for traveling is to meet new people, learn about their culture and their ways of life. Couchsurfing gives me this opportunity to meet the locals - you - and exchange ideas and experiences.
So, I look forward to seeing you soon at your home or here in Samaipata.
Mika

Edit 2023: As we can all see what is happening in Gaza and if you have read my profile so far, you know what side I am on. If you are neutral in times of oppression, you take the side of the oppressor. So if you have any contact or any support for the most cowardly army in the world, the IDF, please dont send any requests.

PHILOSOPHY

"travel is more than the seeing of sights;
it is a change that goes on,
deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
-- Miriam Beard

"one of the unsung freedoms that go with a free press is the freedom not to read it." Ferdinand Mount

"there is freedom of the press, but there is no free press" dont know who said this

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Entertaining the cat or the grandmother. Washing the dishes. Drinking beer. Lighting the BBQ. And what ever comes to my mind.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosting in our house in Samaipata. Couchsurfing parties in our house. I enjoyed most talking to the different travelers from all over the world.

Interests

Motorcycles, traveling, reading and meeting people.