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I'm a relatively calm and quiet guy who loves traveling, meeting people, experiencing nature and helping people. I'm happy living and enjoying a simple lifestyle. I consider myslef to be a spiritual person looking for meaning in things I do and life in general. I left a potential career path in Engineering to follow my passion for social work and peace-building.

I've had lots of opportunity to interact with people from around the world through various organisations and networks I've been part of. I was a member of the international student run organisation, AIESEC from 2002 to 2009 and was able to connected with people from 100+ countries. Since then I've worked with different not-profit organisations both locally and internationally.

My work and personal travel has so far taken me to over 74 countries in different parts of the world. I've also had opportunity to live in Malaysia, Thailand, USA in addition to my home country, Sri Lanka.

I've chosen to be vegetarian for over 10 years and do not eat meat, nor seafood, fish or eggs. I do eat dairy products (milk).

In terms of travel much prefer to be in the middle of a jungle or on top of a mountain as compared to the beach. But will make an exception if there are Dolphins around :)

PHILOSOPHY

"Be the change that you want to see in this world"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I always enjoyed meeting and interacting with people from all over the world. CS offers me opportunity to host new visitors to Sri Lanka and also connect with locals and experience local lifestyles when I'm abroad.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I was introduced to CS by a friend who stayed at our place when I lived in Thailand. Since then I've surfed a couch in Thailand and hosted CSers in Sri Lanka. I've also organised a CS meetup in Colombo.

CSers Hosted:
Dagan (USA)
Kwame (UK)
Gijs (The Netherlands)
Adam (UK)
Dan (Israel)
Dae (USA)
Min Jung (Korea)
Hans (The Netherlands)
Jason and Sean (USA)
Roi (Israel)
Hunch ( Malaysia)
Mark and Joel (USA)
Vincent ( China)
Vijay ( USA/Canada)

and others...

Interests

Volunteerism, Social Work, Reading, Movies, Travel and Nature, Meditation

• culture
• dining
• seafood
• cooking
• vegetarian
• running
• meditation
• boating
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• bungee jumping
• buddhist
• swimming
• business
• emergency services
• engineering
• social work
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I love music that is soft on the ears and can make you move. I guess the genre would be 'Mellow'. Some favorites are Adele,Norah Jones, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson.

Love reading fantasy books full of magic and wonderful new worlds. Also read books that go deep in to different cultures and helps me understand views in society and issues that people face. Special interest in reading on reconciliation, peace building and development.

It might be easier to explain that I DONT really like Action, Horror,etc. Tend to love soft movies with a positive story or ones that helps me understand different cultures/world issues.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I ate Snake Curry while on a home stay at a village near Payao in Northern Thailand. ( I'm a vegetarian now).

Was on the street side pavement for hours with local people to greet the Thai King for his 80th Birthday when he passed by just giving a glimpse for a second. Amazing to see the love, adoration, veneration the Thai people have for their King.

I've been out in the sea off the West Coast of Sri Lanka to see Dolphins. We had over 1000 beautiful Dolphins around our boat, swimming along side the boat and jumping out of the water and all that.

I've had a gun pointed at me at the Mercado Municipal in Sao Paulo, Brazil by undercover Police thinking I'm local until they figured out I'm a tourist and apologized. :D

I've bungee jumped in Jinja, Uganda close to where the Nile starts from lake Victoria.

Canoeing and jumping in to the water ( with life jacket ) in the Amazonian region of Ecuador.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share my insights on Sri Lankan culture, Buddhism and experiences through my social work,etc. I do have some travel experiences around the country and can give you pointers for independent travel.

I would love to learn about what are unique things about where you come from, about what you think are solutions for social issues in Sri Lanka, about any work/business you might be engaged in,etc.

What I Can Share with Hosts

- My travel experiences
- Cooking Sri Lankan food ( including spicy curries )
- Buddhist Teachings
- Meditation
- Work experience on conflict transformation and peace-building

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States

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