On a chilly Saturday afternoon in January 2016 I boarded a plane and left a grey Luton Airport in London, England for an adventure, a life adventure I didn’t know how long was going to last, or where it would take me.

This was not going to be a three month vacation backpacking a few countries and then returning home, but potentially a life long journey that would take me around the world to discover and experience different cultures, people, sights and sounds.

Nearly a year and a half later I am still traveling solo and have met the most amazing people, diverse cultures and lived in many breath-taking locations, seeing and doing things that I could have only dreamt of.

While living on the road, I have had my ups and downs, but have always managed to overcome the bad times, with encouragement and help from family, friends and sometimes complete strangers, as well as my own determination not to fail and just give up.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Love meeting new people and hearing their stories. New cultures and new surroundings are what drives me.

The majority of my travels have been in South East Asia, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and also five months driving through the Australian outback! I have funded this on my own, buy selling possessions before I left England and using savings. I am by no means, a rich individual that travels in the lap of luxury, staying in five star hotels and having my every whim catered for. I have a very small daily budget and I stick to it the best I can, staying in Hostels, traveling on busses and trains, even camping the whole time I was in Australia. I consume local food trying to eat from street vendors as much as possible and eating fruit, a lot of fruit!

Having time to yourself for many hours a day gives you time to think about life and to understand how and why people in different countries live, work, eat and sometimes just survive. Traveling the way I do has given me a different kind of education that you cannot get from any schooling or reading a book, you feel it, you smell it, and you live it.

This now, for me, has become my life, I have a different perspective on how I want to live it

Interests

I am a qualified angling coach and love fishing.

I love and have owned old Volkwagens (air cooled).

I make YouTube 'vlogs' of my travels every week. Before I left, I decided that I would document my travels, not by writing a journal or doing a “Blog”, but by doing a video diary, this was initially going to be just for me, but my youngest Daughter, Kiera, talked me into joining YouTube. By posting the videos or “Vlogs” on line she as well as her sister, Milly, would see what I was doing and where I was rather than reading about it. So that’s what I have been doing. Not having a clue whatsoever about making videos, I set about getting to grips with the never ending learning curve of not only how to use a new camera but editing and of course the ins and outs of YouTube. To date I have posted up nearly 80 vlogs. I really enjoy doing it and it gives me a purpose in a way.

Check out my YouTube Channel; https://www.youtube.com/c/KerbsideTravelIvanOConnor

• film making
• fishing
• making friends
• classic cars
• youtuber
• angling

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spent five months living and camping in the Australian Outback.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories of my travels from January 2016 and all the places I have been.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Scotland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, England