CURRENT MISSION

To grow inward and go onward

ABOUT ME

If you are newly arrived to Canada I am happy to meet, host and show you Canada’s largest metropolitan city.

Easy going, down to earth, non-judgmental, respectful with a quirky side and sarcastic sense of humour. Constantly looking to simplify life and get away from the pressures and stress of 21st Century life, the digital world and Singularity while still tapping in to the global village. Hoping to someday live in a Slow City and escape the rush of modernity. Learning to understand my privilege as a third-generation Canadian colonial settler and cis-gendered white man in this world. Trying to give (back) as much as I take in this world. Living and learning one day at a time. I enjoy volunteering and hope to find or build the kind of open and diverse community I want to live in.
Find me at film_no_r on the socials

PHILOSOPHY

The greatest thing we can do is to help somebody new -Fred Rogers
It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.
-Samuel Johnson
Treat all creatures with kindness and dignity. My new favourite thing is always around the next corner waiting to be discovered.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To connect with people and learn from others about things which might otherwise not come into my periphery.

Interests

I like anachronistic things like vinyl, laserdiscs, hatting, curios, notions and missives. Continuously learning about myself and the world around me.

• documentaries
• festivals
• baking
• pilates
• meditation
• walking
• thrifting
• trivia
• chess
• reading
• podcasts
• live music
• cycling
• statistics
• volunteering
• urban exploration
• cinema
• ballet
• tea
• theatre
• learning new things
• sci-fi
• scrabble
• deep conversations
• gastronomy
• frisbee
• sharing economy
• libraries
• qigong
• train travel
• flea markets
• slow travel
• pantheism
• bookshops
• problem solving
• intersectional feminism
• basic income
• biodiversity
• power yoga
• heuristics
• vintage shopping
• biophilia
• analog technology
• mix tapes

Music, Movies, and Books

From Here to Eternity, Double Indemnity, The Trial, Jeux d'enfants, Vertigo, Igby Goes Down, Ghost World, Indignation, Heartstone, Diabolique, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, The Last Picture Show, Russian Ark, I am Cuba, C.R.A.Z.Y., City of God, Fucking Åmal, Diva, Design for Living, Delicatessen, Adam's Apples, Forbidden Planet, Dogville, Metroplis, The Fisher King, ESOTSM, Until the End of the World, The 🦞

Aimee Mann, Tallest Man on Earth, The Shins, Neil Young, The Cure, Pagliaro, Pedram Khavarzamini, The Beach Boys, AFP, Tom Waits, John Coltrane, Marlene Dietrich, Louis Armstrong, Leonard Cohen, St. Vincent, Alela Diane, Magnetic Fields, Bobásonicos, Atdi, Tweedy, Bowie, Dylan, Lennon, Architecture in Helsinki, Soda Stereo

Utopia for Realists, From the Teeth of Angels, Middlesex, Bell Jar, Touching the Rock, Unbearable Lightness of Being, A Brief History of 7 Killings, H is for Hawk, Into the Wild, Norwegian Wood, Master and Margarita, Franny and Zooey, Animal Farm, Mother Night, All My Puny Sorrows, Eden Express, My Lunches with Orson, pocket Pema Chödrön, How shall I live my life?, The Razor's Edge, The Power of Vulnerability

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went sky diving and crashed into a barn.

I lived in a Buddhist Monastery in Taiwan over the Lunar New Year.

Asked my host in Jakarta to give me an impromptu haircut even though they had no idea what they were doing.

Teach, Learn, Share

A meal, a laugh, a hug, a moment.
Always open to learn, to grow and to go deeper.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Generosity of spirit, cooking (stir fry, mushroom omelette, wraps), also time and attention, the most finite of resources. I also enjoy giving generous hugs. I could also do your taxes 🤣

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Colombia, Mexico