Hello! I'm Barkley Garnsey, a 58-year-old retired person, currently living in Cape Vincent, NY, USA. I attended college at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), back when no one had ever heard of it.

I grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida, where my dad and grandparents were in the fishing business, taking groups of people out on four hour trips, three times a day. Raised Catholic, we ate a lot of fish during Lent. I was the oldest child, and my mom recalls catching me trying to eat a dead frog on the back porch during Lent. Today, I’m a pescetarian.

When I was five years old, I had a history of difficult earaches and the doctors decided I should have my tonsils out. I remember going into the operating theater alone and waking up to a phone ringing in a strange place. Answering the phone, a terrible pain erupted in my throat; it was my great-aunt Mary calling to check on my recovery. In the pain and strangeness of the situation I immediately hung up the phone.

Fast forward to the Autumn of 2025. My kids are out on their own journeys. The oldest has finished college and the youngest would be in his second year if he hadn’t decided at the last minute to do a gap year and follow his new-found passion for dance. My wife, Amy, and I dedicated the greater part of our married life to our children's education in Waldorf schools. In India, there is a tradition that when the children are grown and out of the house, the parents split and go on pilgrimages to discover who they are to be in their next phase, what is their path, their spiritual purpose. Amy and I are pursuing that now, separately.

Currently, I feel that the world is on the wrong track and that our current ways of thinking and responding to “reality” are not working. Hopefully, by meeting new people and doing new things, along with deep introspection, I can shed the patterns to which I have been socialized and approach life without the bracing and separation that I am used to. I know that we are interdependent, that I don’t exist without community, the Earth, and Sun and Moon, without the plants, rocks and microbes. I’m hoping to sharpen my attention and let go of the structures, concepts, ways of thinking that convince me I am separate from the rest.

Thank you for taking the time to read my profile. Looking forward to connecting and sharing more about our journey and experiences.
Warm regards,

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Having a gap year with the “go-wild” airline pass with Frontier. Hoping for cultural, person to person experiences.

Interests

Philosophy, social ecology, music.

• meditation
• walking
• philosophy
• buddhism
• sharing economy
• foraging
• nonviolent communication
• medicinal plants
• effective altruism
• social ecology
• biodynamics
• anthroposophy
• nexus
• decentralized communication networks
• decreative writing
• sunyata

Music, Movies, and Books

Carlos Santana, Sing Sing, Stranger in a Strange Land

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Went on an 11,000 mile canoe paddle of the Yukon River with my grandfather, father and brother in the Summer of 1983.

Teach, Learn, Share

Cybersecurity, permaculture, presence, listening, lucidity.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Some things gleaned from my recent 10 day silent retreat. Hridaya Yoga.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French part), Scotland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S., Wales