QUICK UPDATE FEBRUARY 2019
The profile below is a bit out of date -- I now work for the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (aka SAAS), a Scottish Government organisation that pays university tuition fees for Scottish students. I've been in Edinburgh for a few years now and I'm still enjoying myself a lot. Although I no longer work as a chef I still love to cook! I'm a bit more vegetarian than I used to be and I still love life.

CURRENT MISSION
Move to Edinburgh for winter 2016/17. Looking for real life and new ideas.

Hi! I'm Tom. Online profiles are always interesting, aren't they? I'm going to start from scratch now it's September

I come from a fishing town on the east cost of England called Grimsby. I've worked in publishing for five years and as a chef for four months, but right now I'm trying to get some experience as a campaigner. I want to spend my working life trying to help other people and improve my own life, not just make money.

I'm always up for a laugh and a good time! A few years ago I started to get involved in carnival, and I joined a samba bateria in London and eventually played in the biggest street festival in Europe, Notting Hill Carnival. That side of life is really important to me, partly because it's so different to the society I grew up in. We all need a bit of it! Also have some clown training and some impro training.

I think of myself as a progressive person; I think very carefully and often about racism and sexism and try to do something about them. I'm also curious about how people from all backgrounds live and think about the world, so I like to make good places for conversation with everyone I meet.

Massive music lover! (See below but I like funk, blues, soul music, jazz, samba and hip hop especially). And an English literature graduate so I love to read. My favourite authors are Theodore Zeldin, George Monbiot, Oliver Sacks, John McPhee and Ben Okri.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because it's what the internet promised us!

I've had some incredible experiences thanks to couchsurfing: I have walked through Venice with a computer programmer who was obsessed with Dublin; gotten drunk with young professionals on a roof in Singapore (they were all bored of Singapore and told me not to that there), and I have sprinted from a couchsurfer's house to my sister's graduation!

I see couchsurfing as the latest step in the timeless tradition of hospitality to strangers. I am lucky enough to be able to afford to stay in youth hostels if I need to. That can be a brilliant way to meet travellers but I like to connect to the people, not just the place, when I go somewhere and that's why I like couchsurfing.

My tip: always turn up with a gift!

Interests

I play samba (caixa and pandeiro) but I'm actually a better guitar player, which was my first instrument. Some piano and trumpet as well. Musically speaking, I'm really rough and ready! But it's a big part of my life anyway :D

I love hiking in the outdoors and wild-swimming. This year, I'm seeing how far into winter I can make it without buying a wetsuit (it's September and I'm still going strong)

Intersectional feminisim

Climate change (especially the ways different groups think about it, and why so many people reject it or don't act on it)

• writing
• acting
• recipes
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• journalism
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

My number one book: "An Intimate History of Humanity" by Theodore Zeldin, which is a collection of stories about the different ways in which people connect with one another.

Right now (September 2016) I'm listening to:
D'Angelo, Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye, The O'Jays...

...and I'm reading a book called 'Hope in the Dark' by Rebecca Solnit, which is about how to feel hopeful about the future in the modern world.

Also love...
Música Popular Brasileira
Samba
New Orleans Jazz

Movies: I like films that interest me or move me emotionally. I wish I was more of a film buff but I'm really more of a music guy!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have drummed with London's best samba band in the biggest street festival in Europe! (Notting Hill Carnival)

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, I'm learning Dutch! And I love to cook -- in fact I got a job as a chef recently so that I could get paid to get better -- so I could definitely make you something good that you've never tasted before. I'm mostly vegetarian at the moment and I'm having to change the way I cook because of that, which is really interesting. I also love to share music reccomendations. I can teach you to juggle, and tell you stories about life in the east of England! Or we could just see what topics our conversation takes us to :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Great food
Music
Recipes
Laughter
News
Perspectives
from my part of the world
Poetry

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United Kingdom