Motorcyclist, doctor and activist (advocate for mental health and co-founder of Malta's medical pro-choice movement "Doctors for Choice").

Edit: as of 2022, I now live in Rehavia neighbourhood of Jerusalem, no longer have a motorcycle (back to using the bus) and am about to continue training to become a psychiatrist.

I grew up in London as a child but lived all my summers in Malta. I have lived all of my adult life in Malta, where I became a doctor/slave to the healthcare system.

Over the last few years I've been working full time, studied for a Master's in Public Health and campaiged for mental health reform and women's health reforms (pro-choice activism).

Every so often, when I get a chance to break from this busy life, I take my motorcycle abroad or else rent a bike in a different country. There's something terribly peaceful about driving alone along winding roads on a summer's day, absorbing the landscape via osmosis. On a motorcycle you have the freedom to stop wherever and whenever you wish, so I've often ended up experiencing foods and people I'd've never met had I used regular transport.

If I hadn't become a doctor, I would have become a musician - I love to play the recorder, saxophone, piano and violin and will happily jam with any visitors.

I enjoy couch surfing because it is a chance to meet and speak with people who I otherwise never would have met... Keeps life interesting.

My living situation has shrunk - I only have a studio apartment and can only host people willing to sleep on a mattress on the floor!

IG: a_ray_of_clay

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To share the beauty of Malta with travellers at home, to learn about other places from "real" people (not the tourism industry) while on holiday (usually a motorcycle tour).

To make friends, to learn about other people and their culture.

Interests

• poetry
• motorcycles
• politics
• geography
• philosophy
• film
• saxophone
• piano playing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: anything by Leonard Cohen. Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, glam rock, psychedelic rock, jazz, Shostakovic, Bach, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse... and much more

Films: Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro) & Cloud Atlas (Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer); Brazil (Terry Gilliam)

Books: The Periodic Table (Primo Levi), 100 years of Solitude, Don Quixote, The Body Keeps the Score

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

"Amazing" is probably pushing it a bit far, but activism for health reforms in Malta is one of the better uses I've put my life to.

Teach, Learn, Share

Doctor with interest in public health and mental health. Can talk about alternatives to mainstream psychiatry. Love to discuss psychology.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Cuba, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Israel, Malta, United Kingdom