CURRENT MISSION

to live a productive life, but to live it with serenity - not angst.

ABOUT ME

If you want to know about me in a general sense (I am hopeless at this) then I guess I am an easy going sort of person who is - despite 31 years on this earth -still looking for a place that I fit in. All I have really confirmed so far is that it is not in the everyday grind of the 9-5 crowd and (I am rapidly coming to the decision) it is not in the western world, period.

Giving you a bit of background on my story is easier. In short, I left the UK in December 2009 with the intention of seeing a bit of the world. Being an inexperienced traveller I thought I'd start off in culturally failiar climes and got a ferry across the channel to Europe. This proved to be phenomenally expensive and my planned route leading through Italy and the Balkans to Turkey got cut short at Nice.

Phase 2 was Asia and a look at teaching English as a Foreign Language. As this was beginning early I had the luxury of being able to contact a friend who was voulnteeering at a school in Loei province. He said 'Sure come on out" and both he and the school were FANTASTICALLY welcoming. I have since been looking at other options for TEFL as getting certification carries a significant $ value. I have now settled in Loei where a local school has employed me in an EP (English Program) so my pitifully slow progress with the Thai language doesn't hamper me too much.

PHILOSOPHY

I tend to ramble so I will let this succinct quote from a man far more eloquent than I sum up the essentials:

"Do what you wanna, do what you will,
Just don't mess up your neighbour's thrill,
and when you pay the bill, kindly leave a little tip,
to help the next poor sucker on his one way trip!"

-Frank Zappa

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am now in my last semester at Loei and have quite a lot on my plate, unfortunately I will not be able to host for now but I can try to answer any queries from CSers who are considering a visit here and can probebly meet up for a drink or two. :-)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

A 3 Day surf in Chiang Rai during which I met 3 other CS'ers: my awesome host Felix, Esther from Holland and Thalia from California; all very cool people and just a brilliant experience all round.

Now I have hosted a few times: Emile and Clement on a hardcore bike ride; Melissa and Aurelian on a slightly less hardcore, but every bit as epic, asian odyssey; Kathryn from the UK and Sky from Korea on their own trips around the east. Thanks to all of you, and I hope the rest of your journey's were all fantastic.

Interests

Apart from seeing the world...
Philosophy
Running
Reading
Drawing (not very good)
Listening to Music - all kinds

• running
• drinking
• reading
• drawing
• music
• cycling

Music, Movies, and Books

Well Frank Zappa obviously, umm... in no particular order or importance:

The wildhearts
Coen Brothers movies
Fight club
Trance music
Rock and Metal music
... Just music really (except R+B)
Fantasy novels

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just getting out and seeing the world has been amazing (and something I should have done earlier). I dunno if I can pick out a single event that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Teach, Learn, Share

Oh I don't know - I hate self publicising! Maybe a bit of philosophy, maybe some training tips for aspiring athletes. I'm not a real expert on anything though although I have dabbled in many things.

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