CURRENT MISSION

Learn about the world and meet cool people while backpacking

ABOUT ME

From Perth, Western Australia, finished highschool in Zurich, Switzerland, moved to Canberra for uni and studied philosophy and Spanish, spent 2013 backpacking solo in South America, Central Asia, Kenya and Northern Russia, finished uni back in Canberra (wrote about Bolivian Indigenous language education policy), and moved back to my home state of Western Australia in 2016 to work as an applied linguist for an indigenous-owned and led organisation in the Western Desert [it's all about culture, connection to country and empowerment (culture and connection to country being the bedrock of identity and meaningful empowerment.... and langiage isnpretty inextricable from all of that :))].

Started freelancing 2 years ago (cross-cultural strategy and language work, still in the desert) and am now finally doing some post-COVID travel.

Always looking forward to the next adventure!

Fun, unpretentious, open-mind - a collector of good stories. "Garry's a 'cool dude'" - a 'cool dude'.

PHILOSOPHY

2012: "fkn love philosophy - Not entirely sure about all my outlooks on life just yet. In any case - the complexity of the human mind, as well as its ability to communicate and relate to other human minds (language ftw), never ceases to impress. Also, I reckon it's always good to be careful in regarding any authority (or dogma) as valid - particularly when various authorities seek to overstep what they can justify. I reckon this entails a need to always seek to improve upon our knowledge/wisdom (and thus methods of justification of it [ignorance is only bliss until shit goes wrong and you don't know why]) by communicating with others (i'm hence quite a fan of freeing up information and education).

In short - stick it to the man; judge not lest ye be judged; dare to be wise; communicate but criticise constructively (esp if we can try agree on what 'constructively' means); do unto others....(peace, love and understanding ;)"

2015: ... add a bit more about consciousness and virtue, and integration of information, but 2012 me I reckon wasn't too far off

2023: add a bit more about connections/relations, and some of the practicalities of regulating trauma in order to act more compassionately

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

Love it! Such a great way to share local knowledge, and great experiences with like-minded people

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have surfed with many awesome people in avignon, Lyon, Sydney, brazil, colombia, kyrgyzstan, kazakhstan, russia, franc, kenya, colombia, guatemala, and georgia - always fantastic fun (have had some great experiences).

Hosted some really cool travellers in Canberra and Perth (once hosted 17 people in one week .... (no more than 13 on any one night) ... that was a lot of fun! (following in the exemplary footsteps of some amazing Couchsurfing hosts in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 2013 :) )

兴趣

chucking shit, breaking shit, jumping (on shit), indigenous cultures, philosophy, languages, sport, music, people, beer, footy, parties, sticking it to the man

• festivals
• education
• beer
• partying
• music
• backpacking
• sports
• teaching
• languages
• mountains
• indigenous cultures

音乐、电影和书籍

All music....tho nothing too hardcore

"The Castle" (one really needs to have spent a bit of time in Australia in order to appreciate this film), "The Blues Brothers" (a classic!)

need to bloody read more ... have recently enjoyed: Caddie, a Sydney Barmaid; Axis of Deceit: The Extraordinary Story of an Australian Whistleblower; The Great Game; The Origins of Virtue (with a grain or two of salt); The Brothers Karamazov; Why Warriors Lie Down and Die: The Dreaming and Other Essays (W.E.H. Stanner); A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Candide; Crime & Punishment; A Long Walk to Freedom; The Verwoerd who Toyi-toyied; Born a Crime; Kleptopia; The Colony;

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Afrikaburn, Riddu riddu festival, midnight surfing in lofoten, White-water rafting the zambezi in zimbabwe/zambia, festival d'avignon, 6 de julio en pamplona, the tien-shan mountains were a pretty amazing place to check out too, as is the Western Desert in Australia (it's fucking stunning), and had some incredible experiences in northern russia

教，学，和分享

The sky is blue because blue rays of light are of a high wavelength and are scattered the most upon entering the earth's atmosphere (not because it's reflecting the water)

estoy aprendiendo espanol, j'aime bien pratiquer mon francais (afin d'essayer du garder) aussi .... kapu-rnara kuwarri martumiliku wangkaku manyjilyjarraku kinti nintirrinpa

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

Fun! .... [a drinking buddy (me), an interlocutor (same), someone who loves to philosophise, and of course I like to reciprocate people's generosity when they're hosting me (as is the couchsurfing spirit :) )]

我游览过的国家

Angola, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

我居住过的国家

Australia, Russian Federation, Switzerland

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