ABOUT ME:

Hey there!

I'm a cultural anthropologist, adventurer and writer from South Africa!

I'm working on my first book on my adventures in the Andes and Himalayas and guide cross-cultural, global citizenship courses in the developing world for a few months of the year. After having studied a lot, I'm keen to travel more and continue my mountaineering adventures and to keep seeking for meaning and fulfillment in this rare opportunity to be alive on this planet at this time!

PHILOSOPHY

The more we know the more we realize how little we know. But we can be all we want to be!
Life is not a job, but an experience.
Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I joined the Couch Surfing community at the end of 2011 and am absolutely loving the experience!

So far I've hosted about 8 surfers from the US, France, Germany, Switzerland. Whether it's hosting travelers for a few days or just meeting for a drink or to hang out, I'm totally keen to meet new people, learn from and have fun with them.
Watch this space!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The first time I found out about CS was when I was in Nepal last year. I wish I'd joined sooner, but am planning to make up for it by hosting travelers and meeting people when I go traveling again.
It's also a great platform to meet locals, which I'm starting to do.

Let the fun and adventure go on!

Interests

Climbing (rock and alpine)
Kayaking
Hiking
Camping
Writing
Reading
Traveling
Learning Languages
Film and photography
Humanitarianism

• writing
• photography
• make up
• cooking
• running
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• volunteer work
• socializing
• hiking
• kayaking
• camping
• adventure races
• mountaineering
• surfing
• sports
• rock climbing
• swimming
• anthropology
• teaching
• languages
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES: The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Scent of a Woman, Dead Poets Society, Easy Rider, At Play in the Fields of the Lord,

MUSIC: Funky house, chillout/lounge (Buddha Bar/Cafe del Mar kinda stuff!), 60's/70's rock (Cat Stevens, Led Zeppelin, Creedence, Jimi Hendrix), Blues, Conscious Hip-Hop, ambient/meditational, jazz, and checking out international music from around the world!

BOOKS: Mmmm, this is a tough one.
The Power of One, The Prophet, Shantaram, The Bhagavad Gita, Travels with Charlie, Be Here Now.

I love reading National Geographics (have a collection of around 200 of them dating from the 1920's!), history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, spirituality, astronomy, metaphysics, religion, and adventure.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

DONE:

Community service volunteer work in the rural Transkei (South Africa); building mud brick houses, eradicating alien vegetation, teaching and coaching sport.

Climbed 6 mountains ranging between 5000-6300m in the Andes (Bolivia and Peru) in just over 2 months (without any previous experience at anywhere near that altitude...not to mention climbing on snow and ice).
This was probably the best time of my life!

Hitchhiking solo through Patagonia and Chile (camping in the middle of nowhere, on mountains, on jungle roads)

Living in an ashram as a Hare Krishna monk for 2 years while I was studying philosophy and anthropology at the University of Cape Town.

Living at a local boys hostel whilst doing my TEFL course in Kathmandu (Nepal).

Hitchhiking from Manali to Leh and doing a mountaineering course in the western Himalayas (India).

SEEN:

Perito Moreno glacier (Argentina)
Macchu Pichu (Peru)
Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)
The Andes (Peru and Bolivia)
Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)
Masai Mara National Park (Kenya)
The Himalayas (Nepal and India)

Teach, Learn, Share

TEACHING & SHARING:

Right now one of my main missions is to teach, help and share with others in as many ways as I can. Whether it be teaching directly, volunteering, cooking or whatever.

Being in nature is a also a huge part of my life - I'm realizing this more and more - and I want to share my mountaineering experience with others and have as many epic mountain/ocean adventures as possible this year.

LEARNING:

At the moment I'm learning German, improving my video-editing, film and photography skills, my climbing abilities, and most importantly, how be kinder, more compassionate, more grateful, and more humble.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Peru, Spain, Tanzania, United States, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Canada, India, Nepal, Peru, South Africa