I have been married for 40 years and have two children (girls). Having just retired after being a self-employed Educational Consultant for many schools all over England, my ambition was to do something adventurous. So I came up with this plan: to walk and backpack from our apartment in Yorkshire (England) to our small holiday house in Santa Vittoria in Matenano (Le Marches) Italy (about 2000 km). I once did a SCOPE 400 mile cycle ride in Russia and an European 80 mile running race apart from several London marathons. Recently, I have had heart problems, which have been treated with stents, but I am not going to let this prevent me taking on this long-walk challenge to celebrate my retirement - with the blessing of my wife and doctor.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on Couchsurfing to meet new and interesting people, keep the cost of my three-month walk down and experience ordinary (non-tourist) life in the places I visit in England, Holland, Germany, Austria and Italy.

Interests

I am currently interested in travel writers like Patrick Leigh Fermor and Nick Hunt, and Twitter travel contributors. As a Buddhist, I try to be interested in everybody and everything.

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: John Tams and KT Tunstall
Movies: Anything uplifting
Books: Women in Love - DH Lawrence

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Apart from getting married to my lovely wife and being father to two super daughters - I ran the European 80 mile (128 km) Challenge Race in 1982 (on the hottest day of that year) and came 75th out of 400 entrants in 19 hour, 31 minutes and 10 seconds.

Teach, Learn, Share

Just enthusiasm for life

What I Can Share with Hosts

A smile and a listening ear.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland