Hey, my name is Ben and I like to think I'm a pretty outgoing, laid back guy. I love to have a laugh, a drink and a meaningful conversation.

My passions include travel, music festivals, playing or watching sport and creative writing. I've recently completed a year long working holiday in Australia where I kept a travel blog which gives a bit of an insight into my personality: chunderdownunder.travel.blog. I'd love to keep going with my writing and make it a profession one day.

In terms of work, for most of my time in Australia I worked for a global company called Education First, organising activities in Sydney for Indonesian kids, on the Gold Coast for Chinese Kids and in Perth & Western Australia for adults from all over the world. The international element of the job was what really appealed to me about EF as I love meeting and learning from new people from all over the world and after doing a couple of summers for them in the UK jumped at the opportunity to work overseas.

However, after 9 months of working for the largest private education company in the world, I wanted to escape the pressures of city life and do something for the sake of doing good rather than making sales and satisfying customers.

Since then, I've lived a nomadic 3 months out of the back of my car volunteering for free food and accommodation all over New Zealand from farms on the north island to a music festival on the south. It's been a blast.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Life's an adventure and couchsurfing seems like a great way of living it. New people, new places and new experiences excite me and I have always admired people with the courage to just get up and go.

While I was living in Perth, I stayed with a guy who did a lot of hosting on couchsurfing and it was lovely to have different people through the doors each week.

Meeting people through Couchsurfing widens your perspectives helping you to achieve a more holistic outlook on life.

Interests

• running
• politics
• reading
• live music
• football
• conversation
• creative writing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
Arctic Monkeys, RHCP, Loyle Carner, Mac Demarco, Cosmo Pyke, Rejjie Snow, King Krule, Real Estate, David Bowie, Pink Floyd (Cheers Dad), Peggy Gou, Jon Hopkins, Four Tet, Bicep, the list goes on and on and on but basically chilled alternative rock in the car and stonking house n techno at parties. (00s UK Pop - think Coldplay - is a bit of a guilty pleasure).

Movies:
Psychological Thrillers all day long:
Shutter Island, Inception, Memento, Donnie Darko, The Dark Knight etc etc etc

Books:
I'm not very well-read for a first class English Graduate BUT enjoy your big 20th century classics inc:
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Anything Orwell

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I could talk about skydiving or bungy jumping but that's not amazing - it's suicidal - so instead I'll go with the fact I once life modelled as 'a Fearless Project' and wrote an article for a local arts magazine near my hometown.

Check it out here: https://benmccallmyers.wordpress.com/2018/02/19/my-fearless-project/

Teach, Learn, Share

My plan for the next couple of years is to get a CELTA certificate in the UK and travel the world teaching English. I have some teaching experience and would be happy to teach you!

I also love learning languages, even just a few phrases so whether it be Japanese or German, teach me how you speak.

I can share my smile and my laugh, a positive can-do attitude and will try to empathise with any problems or issues in your life.

What I Can Share with Hosts

high-fives, hugs, beers, dinner, experiences, cleaning duties, travel stories, work stories, life stories.

Just ask!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United Kingdom