Hellooooo, I'm Simon! I've recently come back to couchsurfing in preparation for a trip around Oregon and Washington in September with my dear friend Sam:

https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/sam-hart

I'm so happy to see the community alive and well! I was worried the pandemic/paywall situation might have killed it off, but it's heartening to see so many people still hosting and surfing.

I'm a web developer based in London. I've been here for 5 or 6 years now. I work for a big newspaper. Before that I worked for a childcare start-up, and before that a wildlife charity.

I love to travel and my last big trip was five months around Europe during the very hot summer of 2018. We'd just suffered a national embarrassment (brexit) and I wanted to apologise to as many people as I could. It was a really amazing trip, I wrote about some of my experiences here:

https://simonisineurope.wordpress.com

I spent four years abroad in my early twenties, living and working in the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. I'm easy-going and love meeting new people, just like everyone on here! If you're kind enough to host Sam and I, we really look forward to meeting you :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think Couchsurfing is wonderful and I wish I'd discovered it ages before I did! I've been lucky enough to surf in New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Germany, Poland, and Croatia, as well as attending meetups all over the place. I've just started going to the one in London again. I'd love to host one day when my living situation allows.

Interests

I love wild swimming, camping, films, jumping off things, documentaries, gigs, wandering about, beer, taking photos, hiking, wildlife (except jellyfish and mosquitoes) and meeting new people.

• photography
• documentaries
• beer
• reading
• traveling
• live music
• electronic music
• hiking
• camping
• swimming
• journalism
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• nature
• sleeping
• social justice
• meeting new people
• maps

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't read much, mostly non-fiction, though my favourite novel is Catch-22. Some movies I've enjoyed recently have been The Florida Project; Another Round; The Lunchbox; The Zone of Interest; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; My Neighbor Totoro; Hoop Dreams; The Father. I like all sorts of music, mostly electronic, alt rock, and indie. I love live music, club nights, and music festivals.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hitchhiking around New Zealand for four months:

https://vimeo.com/98978305

What I Can Share with Hosts

Company, beer, medium-quality vegetarian food

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States