CURRENT MISSION

To turn all 6.721 billion people into couchsurfers............so not asking for too much then........lol!

ABOUT ME

I like being challenged by people with different views and thoughts. How can you grow as a person if you surround yourself with people just like yourself? So this is an attempt to meet people from all over the world who may not always agree with me, but can teach me new things and hopefully I can teach them too!

PHILOSOPHY

To see and hear someone laugh is amazing. It's the nicest sound on the planet! So I'm on a constant drive to make people laugh, whether that's with me or at me! I've been told I have an infectious smile (apparently!). I also hate the idea of giving only after receiving. If anyone has watched the movie 'Pay it Forward' you'll understand where I'm coming from. If we didn't go about our lives 'paying back' what we owe and instead just gave, perhaps the world wouldn't be in the state it is........I'm getting far too deep here, someone stop me! :-)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Alongside our wonderful Newcastle ambassador, Martin - I help organise the annual Newcastle event, Looney Toon. This year I think we had over 90 people come to see us. Next year we want to break the 100 barrier ;-)
As of 8 months ago I can no longer host due to an elderly mother who lies with me. I still am available to show people around Newcastle.
I also try to travel to a different country every month. Work commitment means its always short haul flights, so I'm limited to Europe, but hey - Europe may just possibly be the best continent! ;-)
I've been to a number of CS annual events (Lyon, Edinburgh and Paris) and loved them - so many great people, so little time! I plan on doing at least 3 events a year. Plus its great getting new ideas for Looney Toon

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted CSers from:
well....check the references out!! I'm waiting from a request from the Moon..........

Surfed:
Twice in Ibiza, Oslo, Paris, Edinburgh, London, York, Bergen, Berlin, Barcelona......if you've got a couch, I'll surf it!! :-)

Interests

I'm passionate about many things but I suppose I can narrow it down to four 'deep' passions:

a) Human Psychology - I have experience in dealing with mental health issues (as a volunteer for mental health charities). I'm passionate about raising awareness of mental health problems. I'm recently completed a degree in Psychology

b) Astronomy - not sure where this fascination comes from, but I've devoured A Brief History of Time about 5 times now! Anthing to do with the cosmos and I'm an avid listener. Hawkins has to be one of my most revered idols

3) Passion for house and techno, something about that 4/4 beat, its hypnotic. I actually now have a scientific explanation! I have ectopic beats in my heart (extra beats that make it beat slightly irregular to other peoples). The 4/4 beat regulates it which is why I probably gain so much physical pleasure out of hearing house and techno. But I love being taught about other kinds of music too. I recently attended my first Flamenco concert and fell in love with the music.

4) Bollywood films - I grew up on these, and I still love the escapist fantasy of it. When I'm in a bad mood, its not a gritty film I want, but a glossy bollywood flick so I can forget about any problems :-)

Music, Movies, and Books

Anything that makes me feel real emotion, I like being at the severe edge of feelings, whether thats love, hate, romance, humour .. etc. So for example, I tend to hate romantic comedies, as they are usually not romantic enough nor funny enough. Intelligent Sci-Fi is my favourite genre within Hollywood films (I'm not a huge fan of Hollywood). Otherwise, I stick to Bollywood. Recently though have been introduced to European cinema so now go fortnightly to see European films and finding myself quite impressed.

I like classic books from Thomas Hardy, but I also love modern writers such as Margaret Atwood. And typically, I love Asian writers, Vikram Seth, Meera Syal etc.

I love stand up comedy. I'm laughing all the time, sometimes I just can't stop laughing for no reason! And I love seeing and making other people laugh.
So I'm always either watching comedy on TV (is there a better TV channel than Dave?), going to comedy clubs, sending funny clips to friends on YouTube..............and if there's nothing else to do, I'm making a fool of myself to make my friends laugh :-)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I watched the sun set over the Taj Mahal, which was magical. Also had a very weird out-of-body experience whilst at the Lotus Temple.................and I've watched the sun come up whilst sat on a Trafalgar Lion - one of the best times of my life (so far!) Er.......went fishing just off the coast of Norway, managed to get stuck in the middle of Norwegian politics accidentally, woke up in Formentera (a separate island to Ibiza) with no recollection how I got there, 3am nude run in North London where we hid behind a tree when we realised pedestrians were walking towards us, then realised they weren't pedestrians, they were burglars casing a joint!
Oh and enjoyed a naked mud bath with friends in Ibiza on a nudist beach - had to be done.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can cook a great curry from scratch - no 'cheat' sauces, just pure spices and ingredients. And I'll quite happily teach the world how to make it!

I can make my own 'paneer', (Indian cheese)

I've been told I'm a good listener and friend too, I never ever get bored of hearing about someones problems and will chat for hours if needs be until that person feels they have some clarity / solace / peace.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bangladesh, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Thailand, United Kingdom

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