CURRENT MISSION

As a Certified Travel Junkie or CTJ, I encourage people to see this planet and it's inhabitants

ABOUT ME

My epitaph will be...WORK WAS TRAVEL INTERRUPTED..I have had many careers. Being involved in the Wine industry for 20+ years in sales, education and enjoyment.
From 2003-2008 I helped run a dog boutique on Nantucket Island called Sandy Paws. Winters allowed for months of travel every year. That led to discovering Panama and the extinct volcanic crater called El Valle de Anton. The natural beauty of the valley floor surrounded by lush green mountains and abundant bird life with great hiking and biking. In 2012, I sold my property to my friend, Jon Owens. He later developed it into a butterfly exhibition and then sold it in August 2021. Butterfly Haven is still a great attraction for anyone visiting El Valle.
Since 2016, I have been spending winters in Baracoa, Cuba on the northeast corner in Guantanamo Province. Baracoa is called the first city of Cuba because Christopher Columbus sailed into LA Bahia de Miel (the bay of honey) in1492 and claimed Cuba for Spain. Now I have a family there or rather several families. I have never known sweeter people in all my years of travel.
Presently, 2022, I am living in Panama City, Panamá. My apartment is two bedrooms and two baths and is on the 29th floor of a highrise in the San Francisco district. Very well located on a major bus route. But only seasonally. I always go back to Cape Cod in the summer. Unfortunately I can’t host while I’m there.
.
PHILOSOPHY

Basically I am a buddhist (with a small b. as soon as someone puts a capital on it I am outta here!) and live a rather quiet life, peace is important to me. Cape Cod is where I was born and I am care-taking my farm forever. The old Irish expression "You don't own the land, the land owns you" is definitely true in my case.Also having lived in Panama to try to learn Spanish (still a long way from fluent) so that I can converse with Spanish speaking people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I was introduced to CS by someone who is a member in Feb. of 2010 . I have met and visited many friends from the road in their homes. Being gregarious and part Irish has enabled me to meet and connect with people all over the world. Now I can help spread the CS philosophy.
One caveat, if you decide that you want to come to Cotuit on Cape Cod and stay on my farm, there is one thing I do expect. That you let me know if you change your plans. I give my cell out to be used. If you do not have one, ask someone to make a call and offer to pay for the call. Communication is an integral part of the CS community. Expect a "negative" response if you are inconsiderate or dishonest about anything.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My traveling started in my mid-twenties and I have stayed in lots of different kinds of abodes. Canal boats in A'Dam, barns in Morocco, stone house in Fuenteventura, Canary Islands, underground in Matmata, Tunisia, sailboats in St. Bart's, Hammocks in Moorea,French Polynesia etc. Most provided by friends of friends but many complete strangers have made me realize that we are all citizens of Planet Earth with the same needs, hopes and desires. We just call ourselves by different names. "Imagine" if there were no lines on maps as J.Lennon wrote. It would eliminate so much conflict.

Interests

Travel is number one. I am a member of the Travelers Century club www.travelerscenturyclub.org and www.mosttraveledpeople.com and Best Traveled People which I am most actively collecting points when I visit a virgin country!
My other interests are music esp. folk music (WUMB.org), gardening, ebiking, kayaking, hiking, and watercolors.

• beauty
• education
• clubbing
• hiking
• cartography
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I like foreign movies because it shows what life is like there.
Sometimes people I meet lead me to to new places. I met a Dutch woman on a cruise in the Galapagos and she told me about Ethiopia. I put it on the top of my must-see list and this past October 2014 I found an amazing flight and spent three weeks there. Remakable people and culture.
I read a book about Easter Island called "The Statutes That Walked". It read like a detective novel and the title describes how the moai were transported from the place of creation to where they stand today. I just had to go there in March 2013 after visiting southern Peru, Bolivia esp. Salar de Uyuni and the wine region of NW Argentina. Worth the effort!!!

www.WUMB.org, UMASS Boston, a 24 hour folk music station is on my toolbar as I listen to it online in the U.S. & Panama. Great music and a commercial-free station that is listener supported. Check it out.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The spring trip of 2015 was a culmination of my CSer Pay it Forward philosophy. Many of my CSer family have been asking me to visit them in various parts of Europe for years. Well the dollar was doing well against the Euro so I decided it was a good time to go.
I flew to Salzburg, Austria and was met by my CSer family from Klagenfurt and then spent the weekend in Salzburg. Then back to their home for a few days. Some vacation days were spent in Vienna and the off to Budapest to visit my CSer "niece". So much fun and meeting her kind and generous parents was special. Then off to Prague, Krakow, Poznan, Szczercin to see another CSer "niece". Then to Leipzig and my CSer "nephew". Dresden, Berlin, Rensburg, Germany were nice places. Then Bruges, Antwerp and Amsterdam and Leiden, Holland. Quite a wonderful reunion trip.💜💚
One of my favorite "Can You Top This" moment was visiting Rapa Nui or Easter Island. Rode a bicycle all over the island and it was very special to be so close to those sentient beings, the moai, which represent the island's ancestors.
Another trip that is in my "top 10" was to Cuba. I loved riding in the old American cars and got to go snorkeling in the Bay of Pigs.
One my oldest "Top 10" is being at Woodstock and having Film Maker's badges through a friend of Mike Wadleigh's, the director of the "WOODSTOCK" movie. It was such a momentous event from those crazy years of the 60's that it. definitely changed my life. Seeing so many legends up close (and not knowing how many would be gone in a very short time) was very exciting. I later had a record store because of this experience and have been a music junkie ever since.

Teach, Learn, Share

There is really no way to teach anyone what I have learned from my travels. It is a very personal thing that requires a lot of effort if the person wants to get something out of it.
Paying it Forward is what Couchsurfing is about. Share what I have. Be honest and kind to me and we will be friends for-ever!
I love to let visitors know about the countries and people I've been to. Sharing is just a way to open peoples eyes and ears to what amazing things await us on the road called LIFE! This is not a dress rehearsal and NOBODY GETS OUT ALIVE!

What I Can Share with Hosts

While hosting is my best scenerio, I am looking forward to surfing this fall. My expertise is in wine selection and wine and food pairing. I also love to go bicycling as it lets you take in the sights and stay fit. And I am always happy to talk travel. New places or old it doesn't matter.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Micronesia, Federated States of, Monaco, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French part), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Scotland, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S., Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cuba, Panama

• 

•