CURRENT MISSION

I'll have to get back to you on this one...

ABOUT ME

"Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will" - Antonio Gramsci

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far I've only surfed and been hosted by lots of great people. Unfortunately, I don't live in a suitable place to host, but when I have time, I am very happy to give advice on London and/or meet up for a drink.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Initially I CouchSurfed around Scandinavia and my host had some home-brewed sweet ale! But my real experience of couchsurfing started during my overland trip to India and mainly overland back, where I had the pleasure of CouchSurfing in numerous countries through-out Europe and Asia (well only in 2 countries in Asia, but loads in Europe).

Interests

I spend much of my time doing different sorts of activism, in particular on climate change related projects.

Before having major knee surgery, I was a keen footballer and played many other sports. Now I climb regularly and play football when my knee allows me. I generally love getting outdoors and walking.

I also work for a children's organisation that takes kids on holiday to live in tents in fields: it is about building a sustainable community, and introducing loads of city children to the importance of nature.

I am interested in experiencing what it's like to live in different countries which I experienced during my nine-month long trip - I went overland to India, then came back to Turkey where I hitch-hiked around and then hitch-hiked back through lots more countries before I finally caught the train home!

I eat anything - I can do vegan cuisine and vegetarian goodness (both are good!).

• vegetarian
• vegan
• walking
• drinking
• blogging
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• sports
• soccer

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - Milk, In Bruges, Amelie, XXY, No Country for Old Men, La Haine, Men Who Stare at Goats, The Road, The Matrix, Goodbye Lenin!, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Memento, Snatch, Monster, City of God, The Godfather 1 and 2 (but not really 3), Deerhunter, O Brother Where Art Thou, films by Pedro Almodovar, 28 Days Later (but definitely not the sequel), Tarantino minus Kill Bill, Trainspotting, Scorsese, Inception, The Edukators, Lethal Weapon, Edward Norton (especially in American History X), 51st State, V for Vendetta, Johnny Depp (What's Eating Gilbert Grape), Old Boy, Scum, Kids, This is England, The Shawshank Redemption, Daniel Day Lewis, Leon, American Beauty, The Usual Supects, Shaun of the Dead, stuff with Kevin Sacey in it generally, Apocalypse Now, Hot Fuzz, Blood Diamond, Sex and Lucia, The Full Monty, Pan's Labyrinth, Belleville Rendezvous, The Devil's Backbone, Delicatessen, The Lives of Others, Amores Perros, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Howl-s Moving Castle, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...Tv - Black Books, Peep Show, SPACED, Life on mars, The Wire, The Sopranos, 24Music - Do Make Say Think, Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Mumford and Sons, Radiohead, Dizraeli, Explosions in the Sky, Immortal Technique, Miles Davis, Braintax, John Lee Hooker, Louis Armstrong, Frank Turner, Etta James, Tenacious D, Ella Fitzgerald, Sparklehorse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bob Dylan, Mogwai, Jeffrey Lewis, Kimya Dawson, Regina Spektor, Laura Marling, Muse's old stuff, the Mars Volta, Micah P. Hinson, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Low Anthem, Xavier Rudd, The Who, Te Flaming Lips, Nick Drake... Books - Graphic novels which document fact, like Joe Sacco's Palestine, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Chicken with PlumsOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Kesey), Cold Comfort Farm (Gibbons), A Grain of Wheat (Ngugi), The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Pappe), Chomsky, Terry Pratchett, His Dark Materials trilogy, Catch 22 (Heller), Brave New World (Huxley), Calvin and Hobbes (Watterson), JD Salinger, books about th politics of language use, William Blake, PB Shelley, Pablo Neruda, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Marquez), Like Water for Chocolate (Esquivel), A Confederacy of Dunces (Kennedy Toole), Michale Rosen, absolutely anything by Roald Dahl, Granny made me an anarchist (Christie), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I travelled overland to India and back, through 26 countries!

Check out my blog here to read more about my adventures: www.joshandluciesoverlandadventure.wordpress.com

Teach, Learn, Share

This is very similar to the philosophy shared by the children's organisation that I work for - "learn by doing, teach by being".
Specific stuff I could share: bike maintenance skills, makaton (a verbal aid for people with hearing and/or speaking difficulties).

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom

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