I am a very curious person, constantly in pursuit of acquiring knowledge - half of which I'll almost certainly never use again. I am not especially wacky nor much of an odd-ball, but I'll occasionally surprise even myself. Voluntarily bungee-jumping (twice) came as a bit of a shock.

I'm very modest, which makes writing about myself rather tricky. I'm quite laid-back, tending to just allow things to happen and dealing with problems and concerns as they come, never allowing minor inconveniences to get the better of me. I try to maintain a degree of chivalry in all that I do, and would love to offer my couch for surfers, except that I don't currently have a couch.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Until such time as I have a couch to offer, I am restricted to only offering local knowledge and expertise as well as personable company. I've previously shown people around Oman and would happily do the same wherever I happen to end up. I would like to do some surfing of couches at some point, too, but one thing at a time...

I've given a couple of guided tours of Muscat and the Sultanate of Oman with CouchSurfers. The first had a grand total of three hours in the country between flights, so he got the quickest tour of Muscat in history. The second had a little longer, so I showed her around the interior for a day. Unfortunately, my car broke down in the process. Every day's an adventure, but I've always managed to get my guests back to where they wanted to be on time. I also generally use CS groups as a great way to make new friends in new places, which has so far worked very well in Muscat, Leicester, York, and Pattaya.

Interests

I enjoy learning, probably above all else. It's why I'm a journalist and why I love my job - though a fondness for writing also helps. It's why I love to travel, to meet new people and read. I love to tell and hear stories, particularly travel stories.

I'm also a keen hiker and photographer (not always at the same time) and I enjoy scuba diving, archery, gliding, airsoft, and generally making my life as much of an adventure as I reasonably can. I also love Rock 'n' Roll music and Far Eastern food.

• writing
• dining
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• bungee jumping
• archery
• history
• journalism
• tours

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went on a 45-day overlanding tour of Africa with Dragoman. I kayaked down the Orange River (colliding with a bridge on the way), tried friction fire-lighting with the San bushmen, cruised the Okavango Delta, rode in the 'bait seat' for a safari in the Hwangi National Park in Zimbabwe, got within ten metres of a white rhino on a foot safari in the same place, scuba dived off Zanzibar, bungee-jumped at Victoria Falls and stood amidst a family of elephants in the Serengeti National Park as they walked around us like we weren't even there. Even I don't believe how lucky I was, sometimes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Botswana, Cambodia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Kenya, Laos, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Oman, Thailand, United Kingdom