I'm a very chatty, positive, enthusiastic and curious person.

I love to travel.

My life aside from that has a lot less direction. I've been employed as a circus trainer, chocolatier, manager, cleaner, cookery tutor, receptionist, office worker, business consultant and chalkboard artist (yeah, apparently that's a thing). My qualifications are all hobbies and I use them all the time whether or not I'm getting paid for it. To get paid to draw, and pour beers, and chat to people, sometimes to make cakes, all things I do for fun anyway, is a pretty wonderful thing.

Currently I'm moving to Vancouver having spent the year so far traveling up from Australia via New Zealand, but then went from Calgary to Toronto via Central America because somehow my travel plans seem like they're created by a small child with a crayon.
Keeps it interesting though.
I mean, for real though, it was cold and flights got expensive, cheaper to fly via Guatemala than direct. totally logical choice!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a great idea, I really enjoy meeting people who live in the place I'm visiting.

I've always done an unofficial version of couchsurfing, in that I meet people while I'm travelling and then show up at their home town, knocking on their doors. Seeing a town with a local is a fantastic experience, I love bringing people I meet to my home town when I have the chance. Hopefully one day I'll stop for long enough to start to return the favours!

Interests

I get excited about a lot of things.
Cooking (both creating and consuming)
Art (both creating and viewing)
Music (though I have no talent, I like to be on the receiving end)
Economics
Circus
Language
Film
Books
History
Good people, good pubs and good conversations!

• arts
• books
• theater
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• instructor
• pub crawls
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• bouldering
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• skydiving
• rock climbing
• swimming
• business
• economics
• teaching
• history
• volunteering
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

One great side effect of meeting new people, especially internationally, is discovering new bands to follow, films to see and books to read!

Music for me is an eclectic mix. My favourite genres probably cover rock, indie, alternative stuff, but my dad got me right into Wagner's The Ring and mum's influence of the Mamas and the Papas still holds strong.

Movies, I love La Vita e Bella, the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, far too many Disney films that have been made since I was well and truly an adult, Deadpool, The Intouchables is amazing! Anything interesting, but I also really appreciate a trashy film now and again! Horror I'm not as good with. I'll watch it, but I'll be jumping a foot off the couch every few minutes while I do..

Books are wonderful, I can completely escape into books. Mostly fiction. I love in depth books that you have to pay attention to, easy reading ones, ones that make you feel smarter for having read them, and ones that are essentially a trashy magazine article that lasts longer. I have a tendency to read dozens of books while I travel since I got a Kindle last year, so am always on the lookout for new ones.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While volunteering with a project building a school in a small African village, we had a weekend off and headed to the beach. I was 19. We could see skydivers landing, so a group walked over to talk to them. That evening someone came up and asked if I'd like to skydive the next day. I said sure, why not.

That night I assessed the spontaneity of my decision. I assessed it all night.

The next day I didn't catch public transport, I walked for four hours to get to the skydivers' hotel through the heat and humidity so as not to end up waiting for too long at the other end. It was still a few hours before I went up, and jumped out as the sun was setting. I was in shorts and a t-shirt, and the tandem instructor had bare feet. He said I didn't need to wear the jumpsuit if I didn't want to. He also figured out I had a sense of humour (jokes to cover my nervousness) and said, in his thick Birmingham accent, as we stood at the door "Take heart, love, should everything go wrong that can, just remember the last thing to go through your mind will be me" before he turned around and jumped out backwards.

I can still remember the view of his glittery painted toes almost a kilometre above the reef and shoreline, and the golden light on everything. How it felt when we hit the humidity layer and it became suddenly warm, we could see the whispy clouds that had formed between the cool and hot air.

I was shaking with adrenalin for at least half an hour after, and high on it for a good 12 hours after that. Strongly recommend it, though I'm not sure I would have done it given more than 24 hours to consider.

Teach, Learn, Share

Everyone has something to teach you, even if they don't intend to.

I want to learn so many things! All I need is more time and wherewithal.

Conversations, good conversations, over a lazy afternoon coffee or beer, or a new experience, are the best way to share ideas and learn new things.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I cook quite a lot, I would definitely be sharing that.
Conversation, beers, entertainment and company.
I also have a well honed ability to leave you alone and enjoy the town if you're busy. People have their own lives, I'm just visiting in on them.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bolivia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Scotland, Spain, Taiwan, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, England, France, Guatemala, Kenya, Scotland, Spain, Viet Nam