Sam Martin

I'm Sam (32) and I'm a yoga and meditation teacher currently exploring options for further study in neuroscience at Melbourne Uni hopefully starting next year. I'm putting a fair bit of detail here so that you can hopefully get a pretty full picture of what living with me would actually be like :)

I've been living in share houses for over 10 years so I'm well and truly house-trained. I'm tidy, I genuinely enjoy doing my share of the cleaning, and I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to the day-to-day stuff. After having to be the main organiser of cleaning and tidiness in a few houses, I value open communication and pulling your weight and I try hold myself to the same standard.

Day to day I keep pretty active — running, yoga, pilates & calisthenics are my main things. If you're keen to exercise together, I'm always up for it, that also includes a walk, a swim, a bike ride, or going out dancing. I love disco, house, afrobeats, hip-hop, latin, techno etc. Honestly anything that gets the hips moving. Occasional music festivals with friends are also a highlight when the calendar allows. When I'm winding down at home you'll usually find me reading or playing chess online. I also play a bit of acoustic fingerstyle guitar which is mostly popular campfire-type stuff, fairly quiet, usually in the afternoons or evenings. It would be amazing to live with other musicians and if you can sing, even better.

My friends have described me as hypersocial, which could seem incongruent when most of my favourite hobbies are quite introverted and don't invite conversation but that's just how I find balance. One of the few perks of having ADHD is the wide range of interests and the ability to genuinely connect with all sorts of people. I grew up as a footy boy and still enjoy watching footy and cricket, but I'm also pretty keen on eastern spiritual practices, reading broadly, and studying when that starts again. I seamlessly transition from being the life of the party when the moment calls for it to a calm, very bookish demeanour on school nights.

I do breathwork and meditate to start every day to help cultivate peace and equanimity in my life, so having my room as a calm, quiet space is important to me. That said, I'm social in the common areas and enjoy a shared meal, a coffee together, or just a good chat. I eat vegetarian at home and like to keep things fairly simple in the kitchen, though my teaching schedule means I'm not always home for dinner.

Speaking of my schedule, yoga teaching means some early mornings and some evenings getting in around 9:30–10pm. I'm well practised at tiptoeing around like a church mouse at odd hours to be considerate of others. My social life outside the house is pretty full and I feel blessed to have a diverse array of amazing people I am lucky enough to call friends. In terms of having people over, I tend to read the room, if the household vibe and wishes of the other housemates align with that then amazing, I have plenty of experience hosting. But if people prefer peace and quiet, seeing friends outside the house isn't an imposition at all. The main exceptions are a couple of my closest friends who are like family and will occasionally pop round for quiet catch ups.

When I've had the chance to shape a living space I gravitate towards a warm, relaxed aesthetic: lamps rather than overhead lighting, rugs, interesting art, spaces that feel calm and invite real conversation. But I've also lived very simply and happily like my current place with my best friend who is a yoga teacher, where we have turned the spare room in the house into a mini yoga studio so we can meditate and stretch together. Honestly, I easily adapt to the house and the people in it.

I'm a queer (bisexual) man and LGBTQ+-friendly living situations are becoming increasingly important to me. I consider myself a pretty relaxed and progressive person who is easy going and I tend to do best in households that cultivate a stereotypically progressive northside environment. I like living somewhere people are committed to looking after the space and each other without overthinking it (think cleaning rosters but with flexibility and compassion based on what's happening in life).

I've been staying with a friend in Preston since finishing a Masters in Neuroscience in the UK late last year. I'm keen to find somewhere in the inner north with good people. My timeline is flexible, mid-March would be ideal but I'm in no rush as I can leave whenever. I'm planning to start a PhD at Melbourne Uni next year so I'm open to short, medium, or long-term arrangements, though if the right place with genuine warm people comes along, I'd happily settle in for a good while.

The only warning I need to give is that even though I meditate every day, when life is going well (which fortunately is a frequent occurrence) I can get a bit infectiously excited. Don't be surprised to see me walking around with a massive smile on my face or occasionally dancing in the kitchen 😊