I am a former nature journalist and teacher from London, UK and I've recently arrived in Australia in pursuit of a new home! I love learning about people and their culture, making international friends and being around nature. My friends and family describe me as kind, intelligent, creative, warm and friendly. I tend to gravitate towards people who are open-minded, positive, caring and generous and want to establish real friendships (which transcend geographical borders).

I've not hosted anyone through CS as I am quite new to this, however, I solo travelled around Sweden and Switzerland for three months last year and was hosted the entire time (via Facebook). It was such a wonderful and rich experience that I ended up spontaneously hosting a backpacker I met on a beach in a small town in Albania for one night, to give back to the traveller community and experience what it's like to be a host. Feel free to ask me more about it. 😊

I usually like to do a quick 5-10 mins video call with my potential host(s) to see how we get on.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm looking to explore the country I am travelling in and meet some interesting local people along the way. I'm looking to enrich my life with these experiences and build a lot of great memories that I can look back on and maybe make some long term friends. When I am settled and have my own apartment, I would absolutely love to host people too, cook and throw tea/dinner parties.

Interests

• arts
• culture
• photography
• film making
• eating out
• live music
• history
• netflix

Music, Movies, and Books

Love the old classics like Bill Withers, Marvin Gaye but also new stuff influenced by that era such as Tom Thumb (Brisbane beatboxer) and Whitebrow (a Canadian singer/guitarist I discovered in a tiny bar in west London many years ago). Love a good romantic thriller mixed with a bit of action. One of my favourite book series is Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh - an Indian-Australian author. (Men should read this and take notes..!). I have a penchant for magical realism and recently watched A Hundred Years Of Solitude on Netflix. Love a good angel and demon fight. Appreciate a good drama, particularly ones based on a true story wiith a strong female lead such as The Dressmaker (Kate Winslet), Wild (Reese Witherspoon) and The Camel Lady.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Solo travelled around SE Asia twice and more recently, Europe where I was hosted by people for the first time in my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have a professional background in news writing and was one in four people in the UK to win a commission to write a poem about my heritage, which was then displayed in a moving exhibition across the country during the summer of 2022. I graduated with a film degree and freelanced in film/TV sets briefly, as well as made my own short YouTube documentaries about alternative practices. I freelanced as a portrait/events photographer for several years and my favourite genre is reportage. Check out my work on my insta: @thebengalirunaway. I can teach you how to make an authentic Bengali curry, read/write/speak in Bangla, take good photos, weave a good story through written English language and much more.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I enjoy sharing my Bengali culture through cooking and have been cooking delicious Bengali curries for all my hosts. Happy to also cook for you if I'm staying a week or longer. Also happy to bake a cake if you have the ingredients in your house. My fav is date cake minus added sugar which is probably the healthiest cake you'll ever eat as dates are a superfood! My sister and her partner recently described it as 'moreish' as in they couldn't stop eating it. 😋

Countries I’ve Visited

Bangladesh, Belgium, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Wales