CURRENT MISSION

To reach tomorrow, or at least the next hour.

ABOUT ME

I have been described as an aging hippy.
I took great offence at that.
I am /not/ an aging hippy.
I am an /aged/ hippy.
I've got there already.

The place I most want to visit is the summit of Olympus Mons on the Tharsis Plateau, but the site won't let me enter that under "I want to visit this location".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In the 1960s and 70s I worked for an organisation called Bit Information Services. Its telephone number - 229 8219 - is burnt, apparently indelibly, into my brain. This provided a central information clearing point for the Hippy/Alternative community in and around London. One of the main services offered by Bit was the provision of "Crash Pads", a term now apparently replaced by the arrival of Couch Surfing. We had loads of people on our books offering crash pads, and countless requests for them.
But this was both a more and less immediate service than Couch Surfing. More immediate, in the sense that rather than planning ahead, people would call by phone, or come into the office, saying "Help, my parents have just thown me out/I've just arrived in London/I've been thrown out of my flat and I've nowhere to stay". Less immediate in that we would call people on our list of crash pad offerers, and ask them if they had space and were willing to offer it.
I was myself on the list, and lost count of the number of people who crashed with me (usually on the floor rather than the couch that I didn't have).
Places I crashed/couch surfed included the UK, the USA, Bulgaria, Turkey, Finland, Sweden and The Netherlands.
Does walking into a police station in Finland, asking for help finding a place to stay, and being allowed to spend a night in an (unlocked) cell, count?
(Any information/tales/anecdotes about Bit or hippy era crash pads would be welcomed.)

In this later era, the most recently I've had anyone to stay was October 2010, and the most recent time I've stayed with anyone was January 2011.

Interests

Whatever is happening around me.

• books
• walking
• surfing
• emergency services

Music, Movies, and Books

What do you like to watch, read, and listen to?
Errrm..
Science Fiction
Stephen Fry
Random Stuff
Poetry
Cookbooks
Pink Floyd
Captain Beefheart
Kathleen Ferrier
Richard Thompson
Free

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

• Seeing the sun rise from the top of Masada.
• Lying on my back watching the Perseids
Yes, I know that's more than one, but...

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United Kingdom

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