CURRENT MISSION

To live life without the commentary.

ABOUT ME

Samuel. 33 years old. Introverted Extrovert. Poet. Magician. Dancer. Vegetarian. Philosopher. Existentialist. Dreamer. Avid reader. Traveller. Drifter. Lover. Liver. Believes anything can happen and both excited and horrified of it all happening simultaneously.
Lost but continually, perpetually, being found.

PHILOSOPHY

A mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been part of CS for coming on to 9 years now. It's had a profound effect on how I view travel, interpersonal relations, cultural differences and shared histories. As a writer, this has been invaluable to me and I give back as much as I can. I've organised dinner parties for over 50 people, turned people into die-hard converts, had long debates about the ethics and changes of the project over the years (sadly, the recent changes have led those discussions down much more pejorative paths), and surfed and hosted many, many times.

Don't hesitate to drop me a line of you have any questions.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far I have hosted and surfed with a fair few people and shared drinks, adventures, late nights, early mornings, waterfall appreciations, deep discussions, hugs, laughter, road-trips, animal love, star-gazing, coffee, chess games, shishas, bike-rides, movies, books, religions, ridiculous banter, aesthetic appreciation and philosophical debates with them and many, many more.

Interests

Poetry, Mindfulness, Meditation, Shambhala, Yoga, Archery, Literature, Art, Chess, Backgammon, Gymnastics, People, Martial Arts, Dancing, Travelling, Music, Thunderstorms, Rain, Writing, Films, Dreaming, Philosophy, Drinking, Teasing, Laughing.

• animals
• arts
• writing
• books
• literature
• poetry
• dancing
• ethics
• coffee
• vegetarian
• yoga
• meditation
• partying
• drinking
• gardening
• movies
• chess
• traveling
• juggling
• knitting
• origami
• music
• cycling
• martial arts
• gymnastics
• bowling
• archery
• philosophy
• religion
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Films:
Amelie, Russian Ark, Spirited Away, Sex and Lucia, E Tu Mama Tambien, The Edukators, Withnail and I, Life is Beautiful, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, pretty much anything by Pixar (though I seem to be the only one who thinks Up was a severe disappointment), Pan's Labyrinth, Oldboy, Shortbus, Showtime...

Books (honestly, to attempt a summary of literature is a futile task for me, but here is a brief rundown of a few favourites):

1. Sexus - Henry Miller
2. Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
4. The book thief - Markus Zusak
5. Everything is illuminated - Jonathan Saffran Foer
6. Written on the body - Jeanette Winterson
7. Love in the time of Cholera - Gael Garcia Marquez
8. The book of laughter and forgetting - Milan Kundera
9. Narziss and Goldmund - Herman Hesse
10. The beauty of the husband - Ann Carson
11. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
12. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugendes
13. Dance, Dance, Dance - Haruki Murakami
14. The Master and Margharita - Bulgakov
15. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
16. Too Loud a Solitude - Bohumil Hrabal
17. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
18. The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
19. Henry and June - Anais Nin
20. The Bone People - Keri Hulme
21. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

And I haven't even touched on poetry...

Music:
I cannot even begin. But to give you an idea alphabetically:
Ani Difranco, Beirut, Chopin, Delerium, Elbow, Faun, Glen Hansard, Henryk Gorecki, Iron and Wine, Joanna Newsom, Kid Sam, Lamb, Metric, The National, Okkervil River, Patrick Wolf, Regina Spektor, Sage Francis, The Tiny, Unkle Ho, The Verve, The Weepies, The XX, Yann Tiersen, Zebrahead.

If you stay with me you will no doubt be subjected to a ridiculous amount of music, and if you're nice, I will be sure to let you take some away with you.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Returned Home

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cheat at cards; amaze people with rubber bands; make origami cranes; teach you the basics of contact juggling (I'm still learning); give you a basic guide to yoga and meditation; rabbit on for hours about poetry and philosophy; recommend books or music to suit any taste or state of mind; teach you some archaic but beautiful English words; help you with any questions about the English language; and show how to give a damn good massage.

Am eager to learn more about Taoism and India and pick up any skills you may have (be it cup-stacking, electrical knowledge, gardening, poi, lawn-bowling, tying knots or spinning pens around your thumb, knitting, sewing, animal husbandry, first aid, feldenkrais, braiding or photoshopping...you name it, I want to learn it).

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Ireland, Slovakia, United Kingdom

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