CURRENT MISSION

sail to Byzantium

ABOUT ME

I travel when not studying, study when not travelling (more of the latter of late), and try to learn bits and bobs in between (emphasis on try). Having said that, lately I've taken a particular liking to Lundun-toon; the place for me to be I guess!

I like history, guitar, sport (mostly cricket & rugby lately), snow (the light, deep, fluffy kind), the written and spoken word, & whatever music I'm in the mood to listen to.

PHILOSOPHY

Seek to find. Find to act. And repeat. But don't think too much about it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Since I myself am a relative newbie to London, I can offer you a shared learning experience about whatever it is you wanna see in this fine cosmopolis!Couch-wise, at this point, it's all a bit tentative, so I can't promise much. Otherwise, if you just wanna catch up for a coffee or a drink, that'd be sweet!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Since joining CS I've been hosted in places from Boston to Bergen, Solothurn to Shandong, and was hosting in Poland in 09-10 & London since September '10.Every CS moment has been a pleasure; whether weird, wild or just plain old easy.

Interests

Sport; snowboarding, cycling, have been known to swim and dabble in water polo, alpine & glacial hiking in the summer (though I've limited experience in this). If it's international soccer or rugby, I'll watch it, and if you're going to a game of anything, I'd be up for it.

Reading; Now that uni's finished I'm actually starting to read fiction again! (a friend had to point this out to me recently). Without going too in depth, I'll say I enjoy reading in general. Lately I'm seeking out anything Ottoman/Turkey related.

Travel; I've been around Europe a fair bit, & would like to live & work here for a while in the future, make the most of the languages I've learnt.

Etc; Since moving to London & working at the Sebright Arms off Hackney rd (come visit - I'm always there!) I've taken a large interest in the micro-brewing scene here in London. So if you wanna come down to the pub for a chat about beer and brewing in general or just to say hi, we open from 5 every day!

• acting
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• pub crawls
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• spoken word
• cycling
• hiking
• sailing
• snowboarding
• sports
• cricket
• soccer
• rugby
• water polo
• swimming
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
Almost anything from Douglas Adams to Anne Rice and whatever else up to Z. Harry Potter included. I read a lot of international relations & history lately; mostly uni stuff. Just finished Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières & quite enjoyed it. I'd always recommend Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts.

Movies:
Been getting into David Lynch lately, always enjoy Tarantino, some Wes Anderson, some Guy Ritchie, Tim Burton... as for films: I Heart Huckabees, The Proposition, Der Untergang (yes, this is a good movie despite all the youtube subtitle shenanigans..), La Cité des Enfants Perdues, Delicatessen, In Bruges, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Departed, A Prophet, The Rage in Placid Lake.

Music:
Lately listening to: Molotov Jukebox, Elbow, Dengue Fever, The Black Keys, Nosaj Thing, Beirut, Caravan Palace, Brigitte, We Were Evergreen, King Charles, Slamboree...

Always enjoy: Nick Cave, Tori Amos, Radiohead, Ben Harper, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix, Live, Silverchair, Erykah Badu, Camille, Jeff & Tim Buckley, The Cruel Sea, Cat Empire, Xavier Rudd, Lou Reed, Serge Gainsbourg, Yann Tiersen....

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My mind is quite easily blown, so I could go on for ages, but to summarise...

Road trip with Stefano, Romain & Sandro from Wroclaw to Cape North for 3 weeks in 2010

Niel Young Friday, Blur Sunday at Glasto 2009...
Stevie Wonder at Glasto 2010
Radiohead at Glasto 2011

The Great Wall from Jinshanling -> Simatai & Emeishan in Sichuan in 2008

Hiked to the Italian border from Valais, Switzerland in 2004

Walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in 2004 & 2009;

Monroe hopping in Scotland in 2003

As far as things done/seen...being outside your comfort zone I find increases ones susceptibility to all things amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

CS is clearly an initiative dedicated to these three processes combined. Sharing experiences (and things such as couches) are part of my life philosophy - very roughly described above - of learning, sorting and acting on the knowledge you take in.

That said, I think it's also important learn about oneself according to oneself, not taking other exterior or interior authority too seriously. I'd love to chat with anyone into Krishnamurti or Thich Nhat Hanh.

I love playing (very amateur) guitar when I can with anyone who also plays. I am still a beginner when it comes to global politics, history and stuff, but enjoy learning other travellers' perspectives on such subjects. Oh, & am ALWAYS up for a game of backgammon or learning a new card game. I love playing Shithead.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom

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