I am a 32 year old Brit from just outside London. In September 2019 I quit my 10 year career in recruitment to start a new chapter in my life - to travel the world, learn more about myself and to meet people I would never meet in London from new cultures and with different perspectives.

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jamesscholfield/?hl=en
Flickr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bootcutbackpacker/
LinkedIn - https://se.linkedin.com/in/jamscho

Interests include:

Meditation and spirituality - I am a huge advocate of mental health, have meditated daily for 8 years and just completed a vipassana in Myanmar

Outdoor activities - I love hiking and back in England I played tennis at a national level. I am also a big fan of Arsenal!

I have volunteered throughout the UK and Africa but this is my first experience in Asia

Working with children has always been an interest of mine having taught children tennis for 10 years, and my mum and dad are teachers ( education and tennis)

Live Music - from classical to indie!

Travel - (of course) On this particular trip I was in India for a month, Sri Lanka for 4 weeks and Myanmar for a month. Two quick trips to Thailand and Cambodia have happened in 2020.. Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong & Italy are planned so far!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To immerse myself in a new culture and to meet new people. The best experiences I have had so far had been in homestays in India and in local villages in Myanmar. I am also exploring where I would like to live next so meeting the local people in the cities and towns is the best way to do that.

I own two properties in the UK - one in central London and one in the countryside. When I return home I really want to offer Couchsurfers a place to stay too

Interests

• meditation
• music
• live music
• tennis
• food
• nature
• trekking
• mindfulness
• vipassana
• arsenal

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

Ben Howard, Bon Iver, Ziggy Alberts, James Vincent McMorrow
Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Brian Eno
Christian Loffler, Jon Hopkins, Dixon
George Michael, Aretha Franklin, Boyz ii Men!

Books:
The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
1984 - George Orwell
12 Rules Of Life - Jordan Peterson

Movies:
Inception
The Last Samurai
Call Me By Your Name
The Dark Knight (all three)
12 Years A Slave
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Amelie
Gladiator
Into The Wild
El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes)
Un prophète

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A 10 day Vipassana over Christmas just outside Mandalay, Myanmar

Genuinely life changing

Teach, Learn, Share

“Sometimes we think that to develop an open heart, to be truly loving and compassionate, means that we need to be passive, to allow others to abuse us, to smile and let anyone do what they want with us. Yet this is not what is meant by compassion. Quite the contrary. Compassion is not at all weak. It is the strength that arises out of seeing the true nature of suffering in the world. Compassion allows us to bear witness to that suffering, whether it is in ourselves or others, without fear; it allows us to name injustice without hesitation, and to act strongly, with all the skill at our disposal. To develop this mind state of compassion…is to learn to live, as the Buddha put it, with sympathy for all living beings, without exception.”

See below

What I Can Share with Hosts

My experiences of the Western world
I have run multinational recruitment companies so can help with business plans, marketing and sales pitches
In depth knowledge of the power of meditation - happy to teach!
I have taught kids and am the eldest of 3
I love sports - can teach tennis, love running and hiking - let's go on an adventure!
Books
Excellent Spotify playlists :)
Really bad dad dance moves

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Cambodia, Croatia, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Myanmar, Netherlands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom