Hi, I'm Dan!

I had an early mid-life crisis and sold up my life at home (Melbourne, Australia) to go travelling. Best decision I've ever made! I've just arrived in Toronto after travelling the USA for a few months. Now, much poorer than when I left home, I'm searching for work and a place to stay long-term.

I'm 32, I'm a people person - generally I love staying in hostels since I get to meet lots of new folks - and I love boardgames. I love telling my stories and hearing yours. I've done a bunch of different jobs in the past - science teacher, building manager, planetarium presenter to name a few - and I want to try everything. I wear my heart on my sleeve and try to live life to the fullest.

MY PHILOSOPHY:
Golden rule y'all! (Do unto others...)
Ain't nothing to it but to do it!
You can't eat an elephant all in one go.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As much as I love hostels it's nice to break it up occasionally, and sharing a house with one or two people is much less intense than sharing with 50 + at a hostel! It's also nice to meet locals and spend some time with them - generally hostels are full of other travellers, great people but not locals!

I've hosted surfers before back in Melbourne (although around 5 years ago and my ex-partner hooked it up at the time) - had a great experience meeting people and showing them around. It was always lovely to mix up the dynamic in the house a bit with a new person!

Interests

I love meeting new people and getting to know their stories over a couple of drinks! I love playing board games, card games, throwing a frisbee around, any sort of playful social activity. I like to read in my down time, am mad keen on science and really geeky humour,

• pets
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• drinking
• trivia
• board games
• traveling
• socializing
• teaching
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

HALL AND OATES.

STAR WARS.

POSSUM MAGIC.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Took a road trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. We left Vegas at midnight and arrived at the south rim for sunrise. There was snow at the grand canyon - I'd never played in the snow before! It was pretty excellent.

Second amazing thing (screw the rules) - joining the Pride Parade on Easter Sunday in New Orleans and 'dancewalking' for an hour with an amazing marching band, collecting beads, wearing a bucket on my head and having the time of my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to learn anything you can teach me. In return I can teach you card games, cool science tricks, an amazing daal recipe (that i'll probably cook for you), stories about the stars (well, southern hemisphere stars anyway - not so useful here), lots of random trivia that's tucked away in my head, how to solve cryptic crosswords... oh, and any beer/wine that I have is yours to share too :-)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Great stories! Also I cook and clean pretty damn well. Happy to throw in for groceries. I'm good with kids, pets, friends, parents, you name it. Can supply legendarily bad puns and dad jokes. Also I'm pretty handy and might end up fixing some things around the house.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada