My and my wife's houses in England are rented out and we have lived in Tomar, in Portugal, for the last 3 years solely on the income.
And I am NOT 61! OK, I suddenly find myself with two sons who are 35 and 33 and yes, I have somehow got 3 grandkids (who I adore!) but come on - I was only 30 odd years old myself a few weeks ago!
Wasn't I???

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My mother was brought up in an American boarding school so I have always been very “pro-America” but other than a handful of trips to Florida, which, I realise, is hardly indicative of the USA, I have never really seen the country or met The People and only have a “TV-ised” view of it?
To remedy this and having retired early and finding myself able to live reasonably, I had this great idea of taking a 3 month road-trip in the US from coast to coast. My wife thought it a great idea - which now I think about it is kind of worrying...?
The Theory has always been to stick to “small-town” America as far as possible – population a few hundred and a mule - with a “Mom and Pop” diner and a small bar in a town where community is everything and everyone knows everyone else. I would ask the nice lady in the diner if she knew of anyone who had a spare room they might consider renting to a Brit who was polite, courteous, well mannered and fully house-trained and she, of course, would point me in the direction of “Jim, who lives just down the road” who would have a room above his garage he would rent me at a reasonable rate until I got fed up and moved on to the next town?
Ha!
If they exist, I can’t find them! It’s either that the town is too small for a diner or a bar, or too big for anyone to know virtually anyone else!
Museums have their place, as do certain must-do tourist destinations but my real aim in coming on this trip was to meet REAL Americans. My plan was to travel from Orlando up to Georgia, then almost straight across into San Francisco and return along Route 66 but when I discovered how touristy that road was, it changed to returning along the coast/Mexican border.
As I write this, I have made it to San Francisco and am about to turn back and have been VERY fortunate to have met some wonderful people, largely through this site, who have found some time to talk to me. We have had some fantastic (and for me, informative) conversations on every topic conceivable. Imagine my surprise at finding that not every American is a massive sports fan, goes tenpin bowling every week and loves their country's foreign policy, but most believe in life on other planets, that 9/11 was a conspiracy and that they are caught between a rock and a hard place in the coming elections?
If I can meet a few more people who can spare some time to have conversations with me, I will be able to count my trip a HUGE success and will have enjoyed it immensely without having give Mr Michael Mouse one single dollar! My hope is to meet more such people through this site.......?

Interests

• socializing
• music
• meeting people
• conversation
• learning
• community

Music, Movies, and Books

The Eagles, Game Of Thrones (which should be a movie!), Game Of Thrones (which is a book and someone should kick Martin and make him release the next one!!!), Virtually any genre of music, movies (and TV series!) and books but let's meet and talk about it? I'm still open to all new ideas.....

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got sole custody of my children when they were aged 6 and 4 and brought them up myself but if that doesn't count as "Amazing", I have come to America for three months, on my own, by myself and been lucky enough to meet, and talk with, so many interesting people!!!

Teach, Learn, Share

I know lots of party games and card tricks, have my computer with me that holds over 50 000 karaoke songs, want to learn all about America and views and philosophies that are different from the usual ones I get in the UK and Portugal and would love to share stories about almost anything that interests you because I am a conversational "sponge"!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Conversation, anecdotes and experiences - Ye gods that makes me sound like an old f*rt, but as a member of one of the "Two countries separated by a common language" and my host as a member of the other, we have got lots to share with each other!

Countries I’ve Visited

Barbados, Belgium, Cuba, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Portugal, United Kingdom