CURRENTLY TRAVELLING WIFE MY WIFE, KAITLYN, AFTER GETTING MARRIED IN JULY 2024 SO UNABLE TO HOST

For references when I have been travelling (2013/14 and 2015/16), see:
https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/sarahbroadfoot
(my ex’s profile, which we used)

TRAVEL
"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer!"

I used to flee to Ibiza every summer (at least twice) after my exams, normally for the opening parties and again for the closing parties. My first trip outside of Europe was a rather big one!

My ex-partner, Sarah, and I went travelling for a year after I graduated from my undergraduate degree (and she her postgraduate degree) in 2013.

After not quite "getting it out my system", I (we) went travelling for another 10 months in October 2015.

After returning to Scotland in July 2016, I (we) had extended holidays in Nepal, Turkey, Italy and Tanzania and city breaks to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zurich, Budapest and Vienna. I also had an extended (solo) holiday to Peru and (solo) city breaks to Luxembourg, Geneva, St. Moritz, Faro, Albufeira and Lisbon.

Fast-forward many years, and I’m now married to Kaitlyn. In the last couple of years we have had an extended holiday Egypt and Jordan and city breaks in Oslo, Krakow, Amsterdam, Dublin and Belfast. I have also had solo city breaks in Bucharest, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, Vienna and Bratislava.

Kaitlyn and I got married in July 2024, then headed off on our round the world trip.

PROFESSIONAL (BORING PART)
I dreamed of being a football (soccer) player and played professionally after school. However, I semi-‘retired’ after sustaining an injury.

I studied law at the University of Edinburgh from September 2009 to July 2013 and the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the same university from September 2014 to July 2015.

I quit my job as a trainee lawyer with a global commercial/corporate law firm in late 2016 before working in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court team at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, then as a Tax Professional Caseworker at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). I gave law one last chance from summer 2018 to early 2019 as trainee solicitor at a local firm before finally deciding it wasn't for me. I worked at the Competition and Markets Authority during 2019 before starting HMRC's graduate programme later that year (2019). I currently work in large business trying to make sure the bad guys (big business) pay their fair share of taxes. I still don't know exactly what I want to do with my life (but who does)!

Kaitlyn is a primary school teacher. She is American but has been teaching in Scotland for almost 8 years now.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

To begin with: to experience the world. Then: to allow others to experience the world. Now: to experience the world again/with Kaitlyn.

I have mainly surfed couches of the world. Kaitlyn is new to Couchsurfing though surfed some couches in America during the first part of our trip when we were visiting friends and family.

I hosted my first guests in the summer of 2017: a newlywed American couple on their first stop of a 40-day European honeymoon. Later that year (2017), I hosted an actor in a West End play touring at our local theatre. In 2018, I hosted two German friends on their way back to Edinburgh after hiking around Skye and a super-chilled English couple visiting for a wedding. In 2022, I hosted two solo female travels who were hiking and hitchhiking around Scotland.

I have also hosted friends from Adelaide and Moscow who I surfed with during my trips. I am very happy to host people who will offer me a couch in their home if our paths ever cross again.

I have had only positive experiences on CS. I began surfing in October 2013 and have surfed in:
Dubai
Sydney
Blue Mountains
Adelaide
Auckland
Dunedin
Miami
Las Vegas
San Francisco
Redding
San Francisco (again)
Redding (again)
Portland
Seattle
Vancouver
Las Vegas (again)
Chicago
New York
Saint Petersburg
Moscow
Novosibirsk
Olkhon Island
Beijing
Shanghai
Adelaide (again)
Sydney (again)
Auckland (again)
Austin

I prefer staying with a host because it's a more authentic experience and they always know wee things you can't find in guide books, have their own favourite places to see/go to that you might never come across, etc.

Some of the people I have met on Couchsurfing are some of the most interesting people I have met. Some of the best nights out I have had in my life (there have been quite a few) were with Couchsurfing hosts. Each host has been very different and amazing in their own way. I still keep in touch with many hosts; several hosts have stayed with me.

Centres d'intérêt

• arts
• culture
• running
• clubbing
• traveling
• opera
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• mountaineering
• sports
• boxing
• soccer
• adventure travel
• mountains
• travel
• films
• travelling
• adventure
• football
• cultures
• trekking
• adventures
• circus
• theatre
• outdoors
• museums
• mountain climbing
• galleries
• hillwalking
• musicals
• museums and exhibitions
• hill walking
• adventure sports
• mountain hiking

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

A bit of everything. I don't like to rule anything out until I've tried it!

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

I am fortunate to have experienced many amazing things, all of which I am grateful for. I have listed some highlights below:

Performed (gymnastics) at the Royal Albert Hall, London, when I was 10 years old...

More recently on my travels:
Stepped out on the highest observatory in the World on the Burj Khalifa, Dubai;
Free-soloed the limestone karsts of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam;
Explored the Tu Lan cave system for 2 days and nights in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, Vietnam;
Experienced sunrise (and sunset) over Angkor Wat, Cambodia;
Swam with illuminating plankton at night in Maya Bay, Thailand;
Drove the Great Ocean Road (both directions) and the Mereenie Loop road (Uluru to Alice Springs) in the Australian outback;
Sailed around and explored the beaches of the Whitsunday Islands, Australia;
Rallied around the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island, Australia;,
Snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia;
Rode the Ghan train through the centre of Australia from Alice Springs to Adelaide;
Watched the sunrise (and sunset) over Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia;
Trekked through the desert and canyons of the Red Centre, Australia;
Jumped out of a plane at 15,000ft over Lake Taupo, New Zealand;
Scrambled to the top of Mount Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom, Lord of the Rings);
Raved at the Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival, Miami;
Hiked from the Grand Canyon South Rim to the Colorado River and back in a day, Grand Canyon, Arizona;
Sailed around San Francisco Bay, California;
Drove through one of the world's largest trees in the Redwoods, California;
Swam in ice-cold water between two continents in the Silfra Fissure, Iceland;
Rode the Trans-Mongolian Express from St. Peterburg, Russia, through Mongolia, to Beijing, China;
Hiked part of the Great Baikal Trail around the edge of the world's largest freshwater lake in -15 degrees Celsius blizzards at Lake Baikal, Russia;
Camped on the Great Wall of China at Gubeikou, watched sunset (and sunrise), then hiked to Jinshanling, China;
Slept in a cave and walked the plank at the summit of Hua Shan, China;
MagLeved on the world's fasted commercially operating train in Shanghai, China;
Survived Everest Base Camp in the depths of winter;
Ballooned over Bagan at sunrise, on Valentine’s Day, Bagan, Myanmar;
Passed through Deer Passage, the world's largest cave passage, Gunung Mulu National Park, Borneo;
Hiked, climbed, scrambled and swam through Sarawak Chamber, the world's largest cave chamber by surface area and second largest cave chamber by volume, in Gunung Mulu National Park, Borneo;
Enjoyed sunrise without another soul in site in a self-dug natural hot pool at Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
Walked around then jumped off the top of Auckland Tower, Auckland, New Zealand;
Climbed, crawled, squeezed, hiked and canyon-walked through through part of Mammoth Cave, the world's largest cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park, USA;
Proposed (to Sarah) at the top of the Thorung La Pass on the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal;
Padelled the canals and got lost in the streets of Venice, Italy;
Learned about the birth of the Renaissance in Florence, Italy;
Explored ancient Rome, Italy;
Puzzled at the ancient Nazca lines from above, Nazca, Peru;
Navigated the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca, Peru;
Followed in the footsteps of the Inka's on an 8-day self-supported hike from Cachora to Choquequiaro to Machu Picchu, Peru;
Scaled the roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania;
Tracked the Big-5, Tanzania;
Visited Dracula's castle, Bran, Romania...

And back home:
Completed the Three Peaks Challenge (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon), on my own, in less than 24 hours;
Completed the Three Peaks Challenge (Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis), on my own, in less than 24 hours;
Winter solstice inside the stones of Stonehenge...

Ce que j'aimerais partager avec mes hôtes

Hopefully my life in Scotland, particularly in and around Dunfermline (the ancient capital of Scotland) and Edinburgh, and my experiences living in Canada and New Zealand and travelling around the world.

Pays que j'ai visités

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Estonia, Fiji, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

Canada, New Zealand, Scotland