CURRENT MISSION

To cover as much ground as is humanly possible using a bicycle.

ABOUT ME

I'm a moderate geek who enjoys a good pint of beer, swing dancing, hike and cycling. Currently I'm a student at the University of Manchester, working on a PhD project on the cultural history of transportation

PHILOSOPHY

A humanistic outlook is pretty central to my life. One of my favourite songs is by a Scottish folk band called Admiral Fallow, entitled "Isn't This World Enough?", and I try to live according to that. The world is amazing, and I have a limited time in it, so I try to fill my days with as many amazing things as possible. This is the main reason why I travel.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm new! I may have a couch for you to sleep on, and I'd definitely be happy to get a coffee or a beer and show you around the city a bit. I'm particularly interested in meeting French visitors-I need to practice my French!

Interests

I try to keep as active as I can. I cycle, I swing dance, I hike, and I get to the gym every once in a while. I have a passing interest in martial arts, but after an injury doing Jiujitsu I have had to stop that for a while. Maybe I'll try again soon. When I'm too tired to do any of these things, I enjoy cooking, gaming (especially Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program), and good TV, such as The Wire or Game of Thrones.

The best way to grab my attention is with a really interesting conversation. I love polite and constructive arguments about philosophy, science, ethics, or politics. Emphasis on the polite and constructive, though. I also enjoy wild speculation about really frivolous things, like the rules for a full-contact team sport to be played in space.

• arts
• concerts
• festivals
• dancing
• swing dancing
• ethics
• cooking
• recipes
• beer
• coffee
• walking
• politics
• tv
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• sports
• martial arts
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Anything by Chuck Palahniuk, Robert J. Sawyer, or George R.R. Martin. Generally, I'm a big fan of science fiction. I also like political, philosophical or scientific nonfiction.

Movies: Sunshine, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Inception, and interesting documentaries.

Music: A little bit of just about anything. I'm especially enthusiastic about electronic music (especially Deadmau5), and I've just started getting into Classical.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I suppose all my recent moments of awestruckness have been in the Scottish Highlands. I took up hillwalking this year, and I really can't put into words how amazing the view can be when you crest a high ridge on a sunny day. Well worth the effort of walking up a muddy slope for two hours. I had a similar experience on a bike trip to Islay.

I also recently went to the RockNess music festival. I'm not normally a concert-goer, but there were a few truly sublime moments there where the band was rocking hard and I just felt like everybody in the crowd was my best friend. That was great.

Teach, Learn, Share

I hope to eventually teach for a living. History of science, specifically. Not a particularly practical field of knowledge, but I know some great untold stories about the people who helped us understand how the world works. Aside from that, I am a reasonably accomplished swingdancer, critical beer taster (and brewer), and I have some basic outdoorsy skills. I also love to cook and know some great recipes that I would be happy to prepare for any hosts or guests.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United Kingdom