CURRENT MISSION

happiness, peace, energy

ABOUT ME

I live in part of an old rustic house in the woods with my crazy hound who is a bit daft but very friendly! It's near Bologna but feels quite remote. I'm curious, sociable and very open minded. No formal religion, no mainstream politics, open discussion and always willing to learn from others. I have 3 kids, who by now are grown up. They don't live with me, but occasionally visit, and also like meeting travellers and hearing their stories.

PHILOSOPHY

Spiritual seeking, self rule, community, pacifism, ecology, cooking, music, nature, art and beauty - these interest me.
Money, power, political parties, fancy cars and fashion do not.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I offer hospitality when time allows for it. Would like to use CS more for my own travels in future, but so far only paid a few return visits, in Belgium and Sweden. I don't have much time to travel, and when I do tend to have friends there already!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Mainly hosted. So far only a few CS trips. I have now hosted about 100 people (although not everyone leaves a reference!) These were mainly when I lived in the historic centre of Perugia, where travellers are easy to find. Since I’ve been living in the Appenines guests arer less common but tend to be more valuable - it’s good to know that some will make the effort to visit the countryside too. Some great experiences with an intrepid cycling couple from UK, globetrotters from Spain, some crazy girls at Umbria Jazz, spooky Russian journalists who turned out to be much less spooky after a bottle of wine, 2 funky chicks from Seattle, an amazing musician from Portland and many more. Hosted 2 CS meetings and we had fun.

Interests

music, books, film, games, circus, outdoors, cooking, good conversation, travel......
No TV in my house.

• dogs
• arts
• books
• photography
• beauty
• cooking
• wine
• traveling
• juggling
• folk music
• jazz
• rock music
• blues
• outdoor activities
• ecology
• religion
• film
• reggae
• conversation
• anarchism
• cob

Music, Movies, and Books

folk, jazz, blues, rock, reggae, funk, soul, gospel ...... what's in a name? OK - some faves from past and present include Sean Hayes, Dylan, Stones, Hendrix, Van Morrison, Red Garland, Mulatu Astatke, Mississippi John Hurt, Frazey Ford, James Brown, Ethiopians, Mavis Staples...... It would be a long list.
Too many books, writers and films to mention really, but I read non-narrative as much as stories, and I tend to avoid Hollywood films and go for more personal or less obvious ones.
Here are a few, just off the top of my head:
anything by David Graeber, in particular 'The Dawn of Everything'
The Hiding Place - harrowing novel about a poor family in Wales
Sapiens - brilliant, ambitious study of the history of mankind!
Films - anything from Timbuktu to Little Miss Sunshine, as long as it's honest filmmaking and not merely commercial moneyspinning.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

'me sau calau da Cala Garoppu' - translates from Sardinian into 'I jumped off Cala Garoppu'. True, well I dived. 12 metres up. Hardly Acapulco, but it sure felt like it! I also went to the top of Mount Etna in Sicilia. Incredible experience and totally worth the effort.
I've also been paragliding, which wasn't at all scary, surprisingly.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach people to keep an open mind and be humble, and have a thirst for learning.
Learn from my experiences, good and bad. Learn to play music and build a cob oven!
Share as much as possible when it adds value all round.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Life stories, my home, a good meal, my knowledge of the local area, some of my friends, some music, a good book, a film on a rainy evening......

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Italy, United Kingdom

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