august 2019 - I'm now back and living in UK. I live in Teddington, SW London (it's in zone 6, not remotely central I'm afraid). I think it's polite to offer some potential space in my flat as a means of repaying the various acts of hospitality I've received elsewhere, both via CS and more generally. So we'll see how this works out?

ps 01/10/19: having started to receive LOTS of requests, most of them which tend to be utterly impersonal, feel cut'n'pasted and which give me the impression the sender hasn't bothered to read my profile (including the information in the above paragraph about my flat's location), I will now add that if you don't bother to both use my name and make at least one reference to Teddington (in whatever sense... be creative) in your request, well, I probably won't bother to reply, at least not conventionally.... there is the possibility for mild amusement for me via wilfully surreal replies, I guess.

pps if you've got zero references, which quite often seems to overlap with the people writing impersonal cut'n'pasted drivel, you're also probably wasting your time in writing to me. I wouldn't say 100% guaranteed, as you might be able to write something sufficiently interesting, but so far this hasn't generally seemed to be the case.

So there you go. cheers.

******

2018 – I suppose I ought to re-write most of this since it's a bit out of date...i quit teaching in 2015 after 12 years in UK and have been travelling/moving pretty much since. I've spent a fair while of the last 3 years in Spain and South America, so my Spanish is now quite reasonable, though still nowhere near as good as it should be...I'm not exactly totally fluent but it's now a lot better than any other languages I've learned.

It's strange not to have a typical, “normal” lifestyle with a place to live or a regular job, though I do bits of teaching or examination marking at various points in the year. It is both very liberating and somewhat uncomfortable at times. I wonder if I am coming towards the end of this phase in my life and maybe in 2019 or 2020 I will need to choose to settle down somewhere for a while, maybe to study or commit to something.

But not yet! I am coming to Japan in October 2018 and I don't know where I'll go after that. I don't really want to head back to the UK before 2019...so if anyone reading this is considering offering me a bed/sofa for the night, thanks for possibly helping me out! :)

For a bit more information....I was a high school teacher of philosophy and religion for quite a long time. I am not religious in my personal life at all, but have a significant interest in all forms of culture, and this is something which is, I guess, the main reason why I keep travelling, to see more of the different parts, cultures, landscapes and people out there in the world. I am interested in lots of different things but if I had to make a list, I guess books, travel and language/conversation would be at the top.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have used it periodically in the past and I am now in a position to host for the first time.

Interests

I like all of the above things! or are they now below? the things in the little boxes, anyway...

(I don't especially "like" politics, but it's important to know a bit about it/politicians. I don't especially "like" religion either but it's something I have had a strong professional interest in, and consequently know a reasonable bit about)

• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• acting
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• alternative music
• hiking
• languages
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Gosh, "favourite"? That is tough.

I'll limit myself to 5 of each. But with music and movies, I'm sure I could have come up with loads of other names if I'd been in a different mood or doing it on another day.

Music - REM, British Sea Power, the Cure, Pixies, Nick Cave

Movies - Cinema Paradiso (Italy), the Squid and the Whale (US) , Embrace of the serpent / El abrazo de la serpiente (Colombia), Reprise (Norway), Die Hard (US)

Books - Waterland by Graham Swift, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami, The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers and....Traveler of the Century by Andrés Neuman. 3 books in English and 2 in translation feels about right :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Amazing things? Always hard to judge as it's so subjective but...I've worked at the Wimbledon tennis championships (as a scoreboarder) , been on a tv quiz show (I didn't win), and have travelled a lot.

Travelling generally is the best thing I've done with my life, if forced to choose!

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to put here... I think we can learn something from pretty much anyone. Which means we've all, logically, got something to teach pretty much everyone.

I'm more than happy to share whatever knowledge and experiences I've accumulated, to anyone who would like to know. Feel free to ask.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I wish I could say I'm a brilliant cook. That would be the thing I WOULD LIKE to be able to share but sadly it's not true.... I am a very average cook. I am a sociable, open-minded and friendly person who is happy to have more/less conversation depending on the particular situation. I am always happy to share information about places I've been. and to learn/hear about other places from hosts or fellow wanderers.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom