CURRENT MISSION

The World is a book and those who do not travel read only a page - St Augustine

ABOUT ME

Try to curb my sarcasm until I know people well enough to know that they can take it. Love learning new languages and have always had very itchy feet. Would love to meet people for drinks/coffees - more of a vampire than an early bird so there'll be no hiking in the countryside for me!

Have had the equivalent of career ADD for most of my life so I know a little about a lot of things. I've worked in four countries doing everything from waitressing, sitting on the side of the street hairwrapping, working for a state agency, marketing offshore financial products in Italy, being a lawyer (ongoing), freelance translating (ongoing), co-owning a company that imports, sells and services coffee machines (ongoing) and working for a tour operator (ongoing). I've also usually been simultaneously doing some kind of studying, but currently I'm confining myself to improving my language skills, especially Spanish.

PHILOSOPHY

'You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life'. Winston Churchill

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Did a huge amount of informal surfing and hosting before I joined this site, now I mainly participate in CS by meeting up with people for nights out or language exchanges. I've also doled out a fair bit of free legal advice through private messages but I would really appreciate a positive reference if you feel that I've helped in this way.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have organised and/or attended couchsurfing events in Ireland, the US, France, Spain and Italy.

Interests

• books
• coffee
• drinking
• traveling
• socializing
• hiking
• surfing
• freelancing
• languages
• law
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

An obsessive reader - I don't really go to the cinema as it annoys me that I can't read while I'm there. Way too many favourite books to list but Ayn Rand and Dumas need to get a special mention.In terms of music, I'm open to most things, I was lucky enough to see some great live perfomances over the years, from when I was very young - Michael Jackson on the BAD tour, The Beach Boys, Nirvana (when they were supporting Sonic Youth in a small venue in Dun Laoghaire!), James Brown, INXS, Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, Iggy Pop, David Byrne to name but a few of the most memorable big ones. Tend to go to less big name concerts nowadays. For going out dancing I think reggaeton is hard to beat and I'm also a big Motown fan.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Have an uncanny knack of landing in a country just as a revolution is getting under way...

Meeting Allen Ginsberg after hearing him read Howl in a small room in Liberty Hall, Dublin

Have been stung by a scorpion, not recommended

Passed out at the top of King's Canyon, Australia. Revived enough to make my way down shortly thereafter :D

Spent almost an hour in the Sistine Chapel with just nine other people in 2012

Teach, Learn, Share

The next time you have hiccups, try taking your pulse...

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Ireland, Italy, United States