Hi I'm Jake,

I grew up in a very small village and so enjoy the outdoors more than city life. My biggest passion is travelling and meeting new people. After this comes Engineering, in particular motor-sport; hence my degree.

At joint second comes cooking, all the way through school I was a chef as a part time job and I have found it comes in very useful as I travel - I have worked in Thailand and Australia.

After completing my degree I worked in Automotive engineering as a project engineer for 2 years before starting my travels with my girlfriend, Louise (https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/1860732/profile) in October 2013.

In this trip we visited more countries than I ever expected to and I hope the list keeps on growing. I believe that meeting new people and travelling teaches and rewards a person more than anything else and I hope our stories can inspire other to do the same.

After 8 months back home Louise and I went off again, but this time by motorcycle. We travelled from Wales to Italy for the Monza Grand Prix before making our way home again. It was a much shorter trip than last time "only" 8 weeks!

After working for 18 months in the food industry I've finally made it back to Engineering as a Quality Control inspector at a well known motorcycle manufacturer.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've never felt so alive as when I am travelling and meeting new people and having new experiences. After meeting people from the community, couch surfing has helped me find out more about the cultures and people in the countries I visit.

Interests

Riding motorcycles,
Walking,
Hiking,
Formula 1,
Cooking,
MotoGP,
Cars
Playing the drums

• dining
• cooking
• walking
• motorcycles
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• drums
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• surfing
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

I have a varied taste in music, I generally go for things with a good rhythm and/or originality but there's not much of a rule, e.g. Break beat, blues, jazz, dub, ska, reggae, electro-funk etc.

I'm not a big movie fan but cult classics and Mafia style are possibly my favourites; Pulp Fiction, Scarface, Snatch, Lock Stock, Shutter Island, Seven etc

For reading, I'm a big fan of James Ellroy and David Simon.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Faced my phobia of water by gaining my PADI open water. Now I love to dive almost more than engines and cars!

Teach, Learn, Share

For non-native English speakers I'd love to help with the the language.
I'd love to learn as much about local customs, especially how to cook local food. I'll be happy to teach my host the same too.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to share stories of my travels and hear about other's too. Whilst in Thailand I learnt how to cook some Thai dishes and it became my best style. I'd love to share these dishes and my love for food to any and all hosts.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, England, Thailand, Wales