CURRENT MISSION

Spread truth, challenge prejudice, wonder at the universe.

ABOUT ME

As a teacher for the last ten years, I've been blessed with lots of holidays, although of course at the most expensive times of year. It's allowed me to go to an Indian wedding, an Australian Christmas (where my mother's side of the family live, and where she's from, and possibly where I'll end up in a few years), a Floridian autumn, the Italian Riviera in Spring, two Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, the Hay festival, Boston during the marathon (watching, not running), climbing in Spain, the Amazon rainforest and lots of other places closer to home, including loads of exploring the beautiful South West of England.

I'm obviously a huge science geek, and I've also still got a skateboard and a penchant for drum and bass, and I love to talk about anything and everything. Not a fan of superficiality, greed, selfishness or dishonesty. Which means I've got serious trouble in accepting anything the mainstream media tells its audiences.

I love to read - my most recent books have been Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Progress by Johan Norberg and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Hurari, while all time favourites include 1984, Wild Swans, The Social Animal, Chaos by James Gleick and whatever interesting writings I can find in books, magazines or onine.

I went to Myanmar and Thailand the year before last, a tiny island in Croatia last year, and spent a week in New Orleans this February (including the end of Mardis Gras!) My Couchsurfing experiences so far have been a trip to Boston in April 2011 and hosting for a few nights in 2016.

I was a care worker with for adults with learning disabilities before going into teaching, and before that I had a year and a half working as a chef. I love, and have always loved, cooking and eating (I'm probably hugely hypocritical on this front but I'm not a big admirer of gluttony. In fact, now I think of it I'm definitely being hypocritical. I went out for my birthday meal a couple of years ago and ate my own rack of ribs, and one off everyone else's plate too. But what can I say? I love ribs). Update: since writing this, I stopped eating foods made from animals in 2017! So no more ribs for me.

Apart from the joy of friends and loved ones, other things that excite me are wandering around new and familiar places, looking at stars and trying to name trees. But don't worry, I don't talk to them. I quite like identifying them though. Monkey puzzle, anyone?

PHILOSOPHY

A few mottos I've picked up (but rarely quote out loud)

Never assume.

Hope for the best, expect the worst.

One day at a time (don't worry, I'm not an addict)

The futures just dreams, the past is only memories. All I have is the present.

It is not the strongest or the cleverest or the quickest that survive. It is those most adaptable to change.

Life is like a box of sardines. We're all looking for the key.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined in 2011 ahead of my trip to Boston, which was a fantastic experience thanks to my wonderful Couchsurfing host.

Since moving into my own place in Feb 2016 I hosted one CSer who was walking the SW Coast Path and another who was visiting from Hungary.

I'd like to bring some more connectedness to the world. And not just online, but on the ground.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

See above - fantastic experience in Boston thanks to my generous host, Brandon.

Centres d'intérêt

What, list ANYTHING I'm interested in?

Hmm. Might come out in a random order...

Running, jumping and climbing
Trees
Insects
Sea swimming
Cooking techniques
Interconnectedness
Flavours
Smells
Colours (mainly the ones in nature. Oh, that's all of them)
Podcasts
Walks around known and unknown places
Languages
Fiction
Geocaching
Music
Helping folk that need it
The unfathomable scale of the very big and the very small
Photography
Making new friends
What motivates people
Comedy. Only if it's funny though.

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

Music - anything with soul.

Movies - probably about half of them. The half that includes the Jungle Book, Butter Lake, Full Metal Jacket, the Blues Brothers and Philomena.

Books (see all about me)

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

Two swimming spots: in the Amazon river at Tupana Lodge, Brazil, and swimming in the Florida Keys with pelicans diving into the water all around me.

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

If an egg floats in water, it's off. If it stands on its end in water, it's about a week old, but probably fine. If it sinks, it's fresh.

Two trees I know that look very similar: Ash and Tree of Heaven.

Try interleaving two phone directories then pulling them apart. I can absolutely guarantee you won't be able to. It's the same attraction that holds geckos on walls

Pays que j'ai visités

Australia, Brazil, Croatia, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United States

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

United Kingdom

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