I am a mountain goat that is happiest when frolicking in the Alps or embarking on grand adventures. Generic gush over coffee, food and meeting new people.

You can learn an awful lot from people’s stories and everyone has one to tell. When the robots take over the world, storytelling will be what keeps us human.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because it really is the best way to meet like-minded souls

Interests

Any and all adventure sports but especially skiing and climbing, long distance running, biking, hiking, swimming (but only in the sea), theatre, festivals, live music, baking, animals, podcasts (the weirder the better), neuroscience, astrophysics, environmentally friendly glitter, extremely patterned clothing, dancing (badly)

Music, Movies, and Books

I read a lot so it’s tricky to choose, but my favourite book I’ve read this year is probably Cold Comfort Farm. Others I adore include The Book Thief, Stuart; a life backwards; every Happy Potter book, anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Silas Marner, His Dark Materials and everything Jon Ronson has ever written or spoken.

Total Back to the Future obsessive, but also love beautiful animation like Belleville Rendezvous and anything surreal. So Cohen Brothers and David Lynch films are generally a hit for me.

Music wise, it depends on the mood. I love my heavy techno at festivals but equally I’m obsessed with Olafur Arnalds’ very minimalistic music at the moment. Also have a thing for traditional Celtic sounds and instruments, probably my Irish roots calling me. However, in my humble opinion, Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed is the greatest song ever written.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycled from London to Vienna (with a bit of cheating in the middle). Come September I’ll be taking on the next leg of the journey from Vienna to Istanbul, along the Danube and through the hills of Bulgaria.

Teach, Learn, Share

I make a mean chocolate Guiness cake but I’m not sure how useful that is... Other than that, hopefully stimulating conversation over a drink or two (I’m buying)

What I Can Share with Hosts

An eagerness to learn about a new place from someone that truly knows it

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United Kingdom