Hello, I live and work at Garranes Hostel Dzogchen Beara meditation centre, in West Cork. The hostel is a traditional farmhouse cottage with shared self-catering facilities, female and male dormitories and a family room with two double beds. There is also a tearoom here - that does delicious coffee and scones - and meditation space.

More info about Garranes hostel here: http://www.dzogchenbeara.org/hostel/

I'm from Edinburgh󠁧󠁢󠁳 but I've been living and working in south west Ireland, on and off for about 5 years.

I have traveled a good bit and I lived and worked in New Zealand for a year - living part of the time in an ecovillage that was started by ex-crew of the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, which the French security services bombed and sunk in the mid 1980s.

I'm naturally outdoorsy and enjoy swimming in the sea and local reservoirs every so often. I also like to attend dance movement sessions (like 5Rhymes) regularly, as well as ceilidh dancing evenings and traditional music sessions. I practice massage. I like to sing and play guitar.

I've had two trips to Nepal (2011 and 2017) to hike the Annapurna Circuit and Tsum Valley. And a three month trip backpacking all over northern India in 2015, again hiking in the Himalayas. I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2016. I've done a good bit of hiking in Scotland and Ireland too.

Although I'm naturally into being physical and sociable, I have developed my inner nerd over the years and can get lost geeking out with Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and cheap tech, like the Raspberry Pi 3, to self host web services.

I follow an interest in Buddhist philosophy. This debate, at the following link, between a Buddhist scholar and a theoretical physicist, about the nature of reality, is one of the most thought provoking talks I've seen: https://youtu.be/pLbSlC0Pucw?t=1449

My golden rule is: first, do no harm.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Social media that actually promotes connection and real live friendship... what the fuck!!! There has been a glitch in the matrix :) What I love is that Couch Surfing is not about saving money but about meeting people and getting to know places from a local perspective.

Interests

• dancing
• hiking
• swimming
• buddhism
• traditional music

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC

So much.. . I do love myself a good night of dancing to jungle/drum and bass. And sitting in on a traditional music session, in a cosy pub, is medicine for the soul. One of my enduringly fave Drum and Bass tunes is, Tough At The Top , the Origin Unknown Remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27H-RvBkWek The classic, Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley gets me every time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MMXjunSx80 And, Mad World, the Gary Jules version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4 The Dreadnoughts, Grace O'Malley - based on a true story about an Irish pirate queen in the 1500s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uF76hF4rCU

MOVIES

This is going to sound so sad, but I have watched The Notebook at least four times! I generally like to watch feel good movies like The Martian, Scott Pilgrim, The Fifth Element and all the 80s and 90s kids movies like Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Star Wars and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I still think Aliens is one of the greatest movies ever made! I have a thing for spy moves too like Three Days of the Condor, Seven Days in May etc

BOOKS

I mainly read non-fiction like The Wisdom of Imperfection: https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/the-wisdom-of-imperfection/ The kids books, The Rats of NIMH and Momo, have really stuck with me!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A pitch black night on top of a cliff in the Marlborough Sounds NZ...then diving off into the sea full of bioluminescence. Like a Universe exploding into life all around - totally mind blowing!

Finding a hidden 15C huge golden Buddha in Nepal.

Teach, Learn, Share

Singing songs and telling traditional folk and fairy stories. Massage exchange. Intimacy practices. Playing at being a pack of wolves. I have a very bad joke and a card trick to share! Cooking traditional Scottish potato scones.

I have written about the ills of our monetary and financial system, in particular with regard to Scottish independence:

- How can Yes solve the banking and currency questions in time for #indyref2? (CommonSpace): https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2619/mike-edwards-how-can-yes-solve-banking-and-currency-questions-time-indyref2

- Inside the currency wars of independence (CommonSpace): https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/2788/mike-edwards-inside-currency-wars-independence

- Shopping Local: Who's Making All The Money This Christmas? (Occupy.com): https://www.occupy.com/article/shopping-local-whos-making-all-money-christmas

What I Can Share with Hosts

Singing songs and telling traditional folk and fairy stories. Massage exchange. Intimacy practices. Playing at being a pack of wolves. I have a very bad joke and a card trick to share! Cooking traditional Scottish potato scones.
Cooking meals, buying beers, good vibes and lots of chat :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Cyprus, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Vatican City State, Wales, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland