CURRENT MISSION

Coffee

ABOUT ME

'All' is a bit much, so I'll run through the important bits. I'm pretty easygoing and love exploring, whether its in a town, on a menu, whatever. There's nothing cooler than taking a side alley in a new city and finding something amazing that's not in the guidebook.

PHILOSOPHY

Why not?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Were it not for CS, I would never have:

1. Walked through the centre of Osaka wearing a large pair of purple furry ears.
2. Debated the artistic merits of the various Spice Girls in a wardrobe-themed bar in Krakow.
3. Found a brew pub in Tokyo.
4. Known the difference between Kansai-style okonomiyaki and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.
5. Heard the song about the frog in the cement.
6. Admired the palm tree in the middle of a roundabout in Warsaw.
7. Managed to lose 30 people in about two minutes on NYE.
8. Eaten one of the best meals of my life, almost been blown off the top of a volcano, and stood beneath a thermal waterfall all on the same day in Bandung
9. Watched a Van Halen cover band in Jakarta

And most of all, I would never have met some of the amazing people that made all of the above happen.

Interests

Food - both eating and cooking (although I'd say I was an 'competent' cook rather than a great one). I always love to try food that is specific to the region I'm in, and am always on the lookout for things I have not tasted before. It's a risky hobby - some foods are not popular for a reason - but it's fun. It always amuses my friends that many of my favourite travel memories are related to meals.

Music ranks right up there too, and I go to stupid lengths to keep the iPod charged when I am on the road.

Wine is another real interest - I attend tastings whenever I can, and also love vineyards. I'm always up for a beer (and just like with food, if I see a beer I have never tried, I have to order it). And I am always happy to absorb myself in coffee culture - I actually plan my morning commute around where I can get a decent coffee on the way.

I'm into photography, although I only got my first DSLR recently and I'm still learning my way around it. If you can take photos, be prepared for a lot of questions.

Other ways I like to pass the time are exploring, cycling, getting lost ... just doing, basically.

• culture
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• coffee
• running
• pub crawls
• traveling
• music
• cycling

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - I have pretty broad tastes. At the moment I am listening to things ranging from Yeah Yeah Yeahs to King Tubby, although I'm always finding new things to get excited about. (Well to be honest, they are usually older things that I didn't pick up on first time around. I'm not that cutting edge).

I read constantly, mostly non-fiction books about whatever happens to have taken my interest at the time (right now I am going through a Bill Drummond phase). But there are a few fiction writers that I love, like Murakami. I cannot leave the house without throwing a book into my bag along with the wallet and keys.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well, I was declared clinically dead once. I'm alright now though.

Countries I’ve Visited

American Samoa, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Samoa, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United Kingdom