CURRENT MISSION

To live well

ABOUT ME

I have spent most of my adult life trying to get away from Colchester, Essex where I grew up! This has taken me to the Japanese countryside for a year, through Shanghai and Qingdao teaching, before leaving me in Madrid, where I came for 9 months, and stayed for almost 3 years. Then took the plunge to leave my idyllic life in Spain for...Birmingham. I did a post-grad in Broadcast Journalism, then started work at BBC Radio Suffolk, and have now graduated to working on national BBC Radio (2 and 5Live) in London, and now been shunted up to Manchester for BBC North.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting (if and when I can)

Surfing whenever I can and am abroad.

And hoping to get more involved with meeting people here in Manchester.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Travelled through Poland with a friend in September 2005 and CouchSurfing turned a decent trip into a spectacular, Pole-meeting success!! Hosted quite a few people in Madrid, then returned to Poland in Summer 2007 to stay with more cool people!! Managed to travel through Sweden and Denmark as well, staying with different people along the way - made a great trip even better.

Interests

Currently really into the cinema,and taking every opportunity I get to watch films.

Love music, both playing (bad guitar) and listening(see below).

Keen on sports, especially football (playing and watching - Atletico de Madrid, Liverpool, Colchester United and England!!)

• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• juggling
• music
• guitar
• surfing
• sports
• soccer
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - really like Shaun of the Dead, Harold and Maude, Sunshine, Atonement, School of Rock, 24 Hour Party People, Grosse Point Blank, Beautiful Girls, The King of Kong, Up, Looking For Eric, Pee Wee´s Big Adventure, The Untouchables.

Current musical favourites - The National, Hot Chip, Explosions In The Sky, Mountain Goats, Bob Dylan, Frightened Rabbit, The Smiths, Lanterns On The Lake, Fugazi (and Wugazi - a mash-up with the Wu Tang Clan!)...but always changing!

My favourite book is probably 'Goodbye to Berlin' by Christopher Isherwood, but recently I've been reading lots of travel books - Ted Simon's "Jupiter's Travels" makes me want to buy a motorbike and ride around the world (in the 1970's!). For an English literature graduate, I should read more!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being above the clouds on Mount Fuji, then getting lost and having to slide down the mountain was damn good, but I still think the whole idea behind couchsurfing is pretty cool.

Teach, Learn, Share

JUGGLING!!
How to speak like a BBC newsreader.
The joy of a good mixtape!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom

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