Hi! We’re Andrea and Francesco. We’re both 39 years old, have been together since January 2023, and both appreciate meeting new people and discovering those things that connect us across cultures and places.

Andrea works as an educational consultant, is the father of five children (who stay with us only some of the time), an avid conversationalist, and an all-round curious and energetic person.

Francesco teaches English as a second language, was born in Italy but brought up in Australia, is a part-time vagabond, and has lived a bit all over the place. He’s usually scheming some way to quietly rebel from the system.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We’re on Couchsurfing because we appreciate hospitality and its power, both as its receiver and its giver. Giving hospitality is an opportunity to care for others, to open oneself up, and to share what one has. Receiving hospitality is an opportunity to be cared for, to appreciate, and to experience generosity. This is the spirit through which we try to live Couchsurfing.

We’re not just Couchsurfers on the platform, but in our hearts. In life we’ve discovered that not only do we have so much that we can share, but that others also have much more to share than we imagined.

Interests

We’re avid readers of both fiction and non-fiction and love entering into the world of the books we read. We also appreciate spending time with friends, cooking, eating, conversing, listening to music, etc. Let’s put it this way: we like to enjoy life. Andrea has done / does many activities, including improv theatre and autobiographical writing. Francesco, on the other hand, loves spending his time cooking and coming up with new dishes. While we both travel, in reality Francesco only generally enjoys travelling when it’s with a clear purpose.

Music, Movies, and Books

Andrea at the moment is listening to these artists: Massaroni Pianoforti, Baustelle, Dargen d'Amico, I Cani, Fulminacci, Margherita Vicario... and all 70s-80s Italian music! He’s part of a book club that meets monthly, and some of the writers they’ve read have included Murakami, Deledda, Biamonti, Stephen King, Paasilina, Silone, Camurri, Carofiglio, De Giovanni, Tondelli.

Francesco likes listening to a lot of 80s synthpop and generally appreciates an electronic vibe when it comes to music. He’s not part of Andrea’s book club because he doesn’t like not choosing himself what to read, but often crashes their meetings for the wine and snacks. He reads a bit more non-fiction, and loves books that challenge his view of life and history. Recent reads include The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow, and the novel Q by Luther Blisset. Movies are a bit less interesting to him, but he tends to like ones where food is central, like Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Feast or Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

How can we pick just one?! We’ve both done several, and we can tell you all about them when we meet!

Teach, Learn, Share

We don’t see teaching, learning and sharing as separate things. We’re simultaneously learners and teachers. We’re happy to share what we’ve learned through our life journeys, as well as more practical things like how to make some of our favourite dishes. Ultimately, we find we learn the most through good, open conversations!

What I Can Share with Hosts

With hosts we’re happy to share a home-cooked meal and a bottle of wine. Most importantly, we’re happy to share ideas, experiences, perspectives and whatever we can of ourselves.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, India, Italy, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States