ON A COUCHSURFING HIATUS AT THE MOMENT DUE TO IMPENDING NEW ARRIVAL - HOPE TO OPEN UP OUR DOORS AGAIN SHORTLY

CURRENT MISSION

Attend every quality music festival in the world!

ABOUT ME

I went to boarding school in a Harry Potter style institution in England from the age of 11 so I've always been pretty independent. I lived in Montreal for a year which was the best time of my life, experiencing such a diverse array of cultures. Since then I've taken mostly short holidays in Europe, but just returned from a more extended break, visiting Australia early in 2010.

Many of my peers took gap years and travelled around the world. I went straight through school, into university and then into my current employers, who I've been with for 5 years. In that time I've also been married, divorced and bought a house! My mini-sabbatical to Oz allowed me to pause this relentless pace. It provided my first introduction to couchsurfing and I'm now well and truly hooked!

PHILOSOPHY

Music is everything and nothing. It is useless and no limit can be set on it's use. Music takes me to places of illimitable sensual and insensate joy, accessing points of ecstacy no angelic lover could ever locate, or plunging me into gibbering weeping hells of pain that no torturer could ever devise. Music makes me write this sort of maundering adolescent nonsense without embarrassment. Music is in fact the dog's bollocks. Nothing else comes close. (Stephen Fry, Moab Is My Washpot)

That pretty much sums it up...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surfed around Australia and came back excited to start hosting people and share my country with them - and that's what I've done ever since.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfed around Oz for 7 weeks, staying with a myriad of different characters. Since returning I've hosted a number of people from all over the world. I expect that to continue for the foreseeable future...

Interests

Music is my oxygen. I live to discover as much new music as humanely possible, especially in small venues before the bands progress to the mainstream. So wherever I travel, finding the best gigs will be first on my agenda.

I'm a memeber of the National Trust in the UK, and enjoy walking round idyllic gardens and through the halls of lavish rooms in historic buildings.

I'm more partial to watching rather than participating in sport; although I am learning kung fu and skiing is another of my great passions in life.

I'm a news junkie, so often spent time reading about current affairs and the latest political manoeuverings in Westminster.

I've a very cool group of friends who often arrange activities. This year we've been strawberry picking, enjoyed dim sum, picnic'd in Greenwich park and spent a week travelling on a canal boat in what I've chosen to classify as a sudo Wind of The Willows adventure!

• festivals
• picnic
• news
• traveling
• music
• skiing
• sports
• tourism
• indie
• jive dancing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - Anything that moves me, although my collection is mostly indie and folk at present. These spring immediately to mind: the Britpop 3 (Pulp, Blur, Oasis), Doves, Arctic Monkey, The Strokes, The Libertines, Arcade Fire, Stars, The Kills, Johnny Cash, Laura Marling.

Movies - anything from suitably pretentious art or indie flicks to utterly mindless comedies, and everything in between. Really, pretty open-minded when it comes to the flicks.

Books - In the past, it was mostly John Grisham thrillers. These day I generally read autobiographies or anything with dark humour, such as Augusten Burroughs and Chuck Palahniuk. I read more music publications than novels to be honest.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Probably getting married in -20C in Iowa at the tender age of 22. My wife at the time suffered wind burn!

One of my couchsurfing hosts also took me a lesbian burlesque / strip show which was one of the craziest experiences of my life!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach - I act as gig guide to a growing number of waifs and strays on the streets of London, and always happy to add to the clan. Kind of like a pied piper, only without anything remotely constituting musical talent.

Learn - if anyone can teach me to play the guitar I'd be eternally greatful. I own an acoustic which lives above my wardrobe with the dust mites, which I occasionally bring down to ascertain if I've developed any Hendrix-esque skills. Sadly, I'm always disappointed.

Share - I can supply you with an endless supply of the best new music on the planet.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United Kingdom

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