CURRENT MISSION

Settle into living in Portugal!

ABOUT ME

Hello hello, I'm generally a very happy chap with a positive outlook on life. I'm from Newtownards in Northern Ireland (a farmer's son) but Scotland was home from 2002-2012. I had 4 cracking years of uni in Edinburgh, worked for a couple of years, and took a year out to go backpacking on a Round the World ticket, unsurprisingly having a totally amazing time!

I then worked as a Maths teacher in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates for a 4 years. It was here that I met Raquel and we got married in the summer of 2015. I now have the perfect travel partner!

PHILOSOPHY

Be happy, stay positive and live life to the full.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined during my travels and couchsurfed as much as possible, the scheme is great and I spread the good word to fellow backpackers. I've thoroughly enjoyed hosting last year and returning some of the amazing generosity I've received couchsurfing. It has also been great becoming involved in the Edinburgh CS community which is very active, friendly and a lot of fun.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couchsurfing experience has been wonderful during my travels, meeting some really lovely and kind-hearted people. I look forward to doing some hosting.

I surfed with:
Luke in Perth, Western Australia
Stuart in Christchurch, NZ
Fiona & Craig in Wellington, NZ
Jamie in Auckland, NZ
Steve in Rotorua, NZ
Charles' parents in Auckland, NZ
Brian & Renata in Waikiki, Hawaii, USA
Allan in Hilo, Hawai'i, USA
Matt in Boulder, Colorado, USA
Drew in Estes Park, Colorado, USA
Mike & Melissa in Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Jacquie in Jackson, Wyoming, USA
Jessica in Bozeman, Montana, USA
Jamie in Kalispell, Montana, USA
Aaron & Emily in Kellogg, Idaho, USA
Lindsay in Seattle, Washington, USA
Courtenay in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Milos in Mostar, Bosnia & Hercegovina
Jazmín in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Elsa in Cartagena, Colombia
Corinne in San Gil, Colombia
Karen in Bogotá, Colombia
Alexandre in Mangaratiba, Brazil
Rafael in Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Laura in Copenhagen, Denmark
Kjerstin in Oslo, Norway
Bram in Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Malcolm & Rachel in The Orkney Islands, Scotland.
Sakina in Nairobi, Kenya
Cleve in Port of Spain, Trinidad
& Tobago
Christian & Chloe in Miami, Florida
Javier in Guatemala City, Guatemala

I have hosted:
Amber from the US
Emily & Chris from Australia
Bram from The Netherlands
Michele from the US
Lex & Joy from the US
Chris from the US
Carla from Argentina
Sharna from Australia
Jos from The Netherlands
Chia from Taiwan
Lisa from the US
Chris from Canada
Sandra from Germany
Igor from Brazil
Mareike from Germany
April from the US
Nikoleta, Aanci & Marco from Serbia
Stefanie from Guatemala
Elke & Lisa from Germany
Brent from the US
Martin from Ireland
Ben from Germany
Chris from Canada
Tomek from Poland
Aurélien & Virginie from France
Marika & Michael from the US & UK
Tranquillo from Switzerland
Xavier & Isabelle from France
Husan from Pakistan
Constantin from Germany
Matthias & Katrin from Germany
Ursula from Germany
Tengku from Indonesia
Dorota & Miki from Poland & Spain.

I road-tripped (drove/guided) round N Ireland with:
Victoria, Amy, Alex, Bren, Max, Christo & Matyas.

I road-tripped (drove/guided) round Scotland with:
Jieun, Karen & Chloe

I played walking/running tour guide in Edinburgh for:
Sonja from Montenegro
Dave from Australia
Kelly from Chicago.

I have offered advice and tips to countless people through the website about Edinburgh, Scotland, Ireland and more.

Interests

Travelling, running and racing (10k's, half marathons, marathons), cycling and cycle touring, swimming, music, taking photos, nature and the great outdoors.

• running
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• swimming
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Jack Johnson, Bob Marley, Arcade Fire, Kings of Convenience, Vampire Weekend.

Movies: Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Shrek, The Shawshank Redemption.

Books: I prefer non-fiction, some of my favourite reads being Nelson Mandela's autobiography, and adventure books by Alistair Humphreys, Dave Cornthwaite, Lewis Pugh and Ranulph Fiennes.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Big Island, Hawaii... hiking across a massive lava field in the middle of the night before sunrise, towards the distant glow and roar of molten lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean, producing a huge plume of steam and spraying red hot rocks in all directions. With a beautiful sunrise in one direction, waves crashing on to the black sand beach in another, lava just a few days old still warm under my feet, and the explosive power of the roasting lava entering the ice cold ocean; this was an out of this world experience!

Teach, Learn, Share

Love the couchsurfing and backpackering network of trust, helping eachother out, sharing experinces and tips, and making the travelling the world such a friendly and rewarding journey.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Running tour of the local beaches and jungle.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States, Vatican City State, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

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