CURRENT MISSION

To meet wonderful people and exchange stories, I've got a lot of paying foreward to do too!

ABOUT ME

I love engaged conversations and people and travel and art and science and nature and extreme sports.

I am interested in the full range of social justice causes, but I find my self training for my sport of Laser Sailing more than I am becoming the change that I want to see. I'm also interested in gathering friends to one day make or participate in a socially aware rural-urban partnership community.

I grew up in Edmonton Alberta and went to University at UBC and Uof A in Engineering. Comming out of school I was nausiated with what seemed to be the system and society. Traveling around for a bit more than a year was really refreshing and enlightening.

At the moment I'm trying to develop a sweet lifestyle balancing the things I love (sailing, skiing, travelling, living in cities etc) with low environmental and social impact.

If I had to rattle off some 'ism's that I am exploring, they would be Third Wave Feminism, Taoism, Marxism, some Anarchism, Zen Buddhism (check out Eshu's free podcasts called Living Zen), Environmentalism or radical ecology

PHILOSOPHY

I used to say:

Do no harm
Experience almost everything
Help others along the way

But the more I learn, the more daunting doing 'no harm' becomes. And 'helping others' can be problematic if it isn't done thoughtfully, humbly and with permission, so maybe I'll over think this and say:

Explore world and mind/heart
Act as a humble ally
Stay curious and learn
Live a rich life

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I really like to exchange thoughts and ideas and find out about exciting events, organizations, movements...

When I stay at a host's home I hope to be an awesome friend and if you like I'll help with any household chores that could be useful. I don't have much skill to offer in the kitchen but I value experience and am eager to learn and help out with food.

I am always willing to share my knowledge about my hometowns of Edmonton and Victoria or anywhere else that I have come to know.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I keep telling people that so far every single person that I have met on couchsurfing.com has been really awesome, frindly and interesting and I keep meeting more.

I have couchsurfed in Canada, the US and Mexico with Couchsurfing.com and I have surfed with lots of friends and acquaintances as a touring athlete regularly out of town for training and racing.

I love the experience of exploring new places, seeing how other people live and contributing to the daily life of a friend or stranger.

Interests

Travel: uncertainty, variety, diversity, hopefully my travel will lead me to experience my other interests in different ways

Social justice: we can make the world a great place for everyone - that is a radical thing to say and it shouldn't be

Nature: Hiking, camping, exploring, staring in awe

Art: Music, poetry and other writing, drama, sculpture, paintings, spontaneity, anything that tries to express elements of the human experience.

Extreme sports: Sailing, Skiing, Climbing, anything that will satisfy my adrenaline-junkie soul

Thought: whatever moves me along my path

• cats
• arts
• writing
• poetry
• causes
• womens rights
• dining
• running
• athlete
• clubbing
• traveling
• podcasts
• music
• hiking
• camping
• sailing
• skiing
• buddhist
• sports
• rock climbing
• extreme sports
• ecology
• engineering
• science
• parks
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Bob Marley, other reggae, dub, ska: the Maytals, The Specials, Reel Big Fish, some Catch 22
Techno: Big Beat, Breaks, Drumb and Bass, Dub Step, some Hardcore, some house, hardhouse, depends on my mood.
Some hip hop: MF Doom, Wax Taylor, Tribe Called Quest, Jurassic 5, but I am not wild about hip hop
Some Punk music: Old AFI, Sex pistols, Rancid, NoFX
I like the Beatles
Anything genuine ans accoustic: Joni Mitchel is great, Tracy Chapman too

The Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk are probably my favorite artists

But I make a point of listening to and loving all kinds of music: classical, heavy metal, ambient techno, folk, even some country but along with over-commercialized music, there is a lot there that I don't like to listen to as much.

I love thinking movies, I'll leave it at that because I've gone on too long in this section.

Books, hmm:
The Hainish books and the Earthsea books by Ursula LeGuin especially The Disposessed and the Telling; Siddhartha and Herman Hesse, Zen Flesh Zen Bones, The Tao Te Ching, Food Not Lawns, Into The Wild, Deschooling Society, there is a sampling for ya

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Hitchhiked from my hometown to the end of the Panamerican Highway in Panama and back again hitting every country on the North American mainland and getting some amazing cultural experiences with my best buddy
-Survived the first intergalactic rainbow experience in Vera Cruz and loved it, really got into the rainbow thing.
-Hitchhiked around Eastern and Northern Europe, a bit of wwoofing too
-Climbed Mt Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park, Canada
-Lots of fun Sailing events from local to International
-Hitchhiked to the west coast of Canada and back
-Cat Skiing near Revelstoke, BC and Nelson, BC
-Trekked on excellent back country trails in our national parks, memorably the Berg Lake trail and the Rockwall trail
-Graduated from Engineering :P
-Went to the Rainbow gathering in Palenque for the end of the Maian Calender

Teach, Learn, Share

In my experience the ultimate in alternative travel is the Rainbow Family and their projects.

Advice... here are some points that I have learnt in the parks and Cat Skiing:
In the foothills and mountains of Alberta, Canada all the way west to the coast there are bears. They can run faster than you, climb better than you, and people are typically not successful fighting with them. They are smart and can be hungry, especially if they are starving because there is a plastic bag obstructing their intestines. Pepper spray (aka bear spray) is a good shoot and run tactic, but not preventative, just like us they like the smell of pepper. Normal Bears don't eat full grown people, but they would love some of your toothpaste, breath-mints, food or deodorant.

So if you're camping in the wilderness I'd recommend that you take bear (and wildcat) danger seriously. You can get good info at parks stations on the free informational pamphlets.

Hang anything smelly in a tree away from other branches or in a parks-provided bear proof container and don't approach a bear for a closer photograph. Seeing a bear is an amazing experience but once you have seen one, thank your lucky stars you weren't any closer when you saw him and make a swift and subtle escape.

Avalanches aren't a joke either. I have known people who have lost close friends. Too many young reckless people die every year in Canada from being buried in an avalanche back-country skiing and snowmobiling mainly. Do your research about the avalanche danger in your area (I believe the Alpine Club of Canada is a good resource)then if there is any danger consider bringing avalanche beacons, poles and shovels, don't travel alone and count how many are in your group regularly. When splitting up a larger group stick with a buddy. You are responsible for where your buddy is.

On dangerous slopes travel one at a time. If your slope is giving away or you hear strange deep sounds or you see trees or rocks moving by faster than they should be, move away from the fall line or gully, go towards the downhill side of a tree, hold your breath before you sink in, drop any skis or poles etc that you might be carrying so they don't pull or twist your extremities and put your hands in front of your face. I'd strongly recommend a helmet.

Once the avalanche motion stops push your hands away from your face for some breathing room and struggle to free up some space for you. You have a fraction of a second before the snow compacts to gain as much room to breath as possible. Once there is stability spit to figure out which way is up and down then start digging that way if possible. If not, conserve oxygen and wait patiently for the friends that you were traveling with. You could be at the bottom of the pile or 10cm from the top.

If you are one of these friends and you see your buddy or buddies buried, watch as they slide down and make a mental note of the last time you saw them. This is the point from which you will start your search. Remember that an avalanche often flows in cycles so your buddy might vanish from sight but then reappear further down so keep watching.

Once you are sure that the avalanche has stopped proceed to the point that you last saw your friend(s) and have everybody turn their avalanche beacon from ski to search. Move in organized parallel lines down the slope until the beeping is loudest. Or follow the flux lines on the newer beacons. Then poke with the avalanche pole until you hit something and then dig with anything shovel, helmet etc. Once you have found your buddy turn their beacon off and search for the next buried pal.

But don't take my word for it, I am an amateur, there are lots of good courses.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Australia, Belize, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Germany, New Zealand

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