CURRENT MISSION

Investigating Chinatowns around the world.

ABOUT ME

I'm Ben and I hail from south London.

I teach history in a secondary school. It's a great job and I love it. Before this I worked in a library with rare books and manuscripts about the Middle East.

In my spare time I like trying to write poetry and plays and I also do a bit of amateur acting. I'm also interested in climate change activism and carbon reduction schemes.

I value travel as an opportunity to connect closely with people and communities. I love Couchsurfing for the opportunities it provides to learn about how other people live and think and experience the world. I also love Wwoofing, and I see Couchsurfing in a similar vein; in return for a bed for a night, the traveller contributes something to the life and home of the host.

PHILOSOPHY

A day passed without laughing is a day wasted.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

To date I've couchsurfed a bit in the American mid-West and in Paris. I love meeting and talking with people and learning about their unique, localised experience of the world. When couchsurfing I think it's really important to engage with hosts and to make the whole experience one of mutual learning and enjoyment.

Interests

Dramatic literature, poetry, history (especially of the Middle East), travelling (ideally as slowly as possible), jazz dance, sustainable energy, education, theatre, theatre in education, different recipes for hummus.

• cats
• books
• literature
• poetry
• performing arts
• acting
• dancing
• education
• recipes
• running
• traveling
• jazz
• guitar
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: anything by Paul Theroux, JG Farrell, Hunter S Thompson, William Shakespeare, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, Jack Kerouac, DH Lawrence.

Music: not too fussed.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Waking up beneath about twenty cats while couchsurfing in Arizona.

Run in with the Hell's Angels on the freeway in California.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a history teacher....so more than happy to teach ya some history!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Traveller's tales. A few notes strummed on a guitar. Poetry performance. I'm also good at washing up.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, Iran, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States