Newly moved to Melbourne from London - living in St Kilda, working in the city and exploring whenever possible!

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The adventure began in 2011, when I resigned from my newspaper job to surface-travel from Argentina to California with my lovely boy, now fiance, who you can take a look at at http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/cbraine ... that time was all about life, actual real life as it should be: learning new things, new languages, new skills, new experiences and of course meeting and playing with new people of all kinds.

We had a big old adventure: we travelled for 8 months, ran a backpacker hostel in Christchurch, NZ, for 5 months and lived in Wellington, NZ, for a year.

We bought a campervan with an enormous Ali G spray-painted on the side, which was cheap and when we bought it it didn't seem too crazy. In retrospect it is ludicrous.

After that we spent a few years back living in our spiritual home, where we first met - Sheffield - and then London, and now Australia.

Life achievements include hitch-hiking ten hours to watch some idiots fall down a hill in pursuit of cheese; and overtaking a man on a one-person waterslide.

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"Travel - its very motion - ought to suggest hope. Despair is the armchair; it is indifference and glazed, incurious eyes." - Paul Theroux

Be everything you want to be, because you make your own luck and you make your own life. Sometimes I need to remind myself, but to me there is very little point in being unhappy and I can rarely be bothered regretting stuff.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I first got into CS in the city I used to live in in the UK, Hull, when a crazy awesome local girl decided to surf her own city and came to stay! I hosted a lot when I lived in Wellington, NZ. I've surfed in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico and Australia. Couchsurfing in Latin America especially was amazing - being with locals meant we got so much understanding and so many experiences and opportunities we couldn't have paid for if we wanted to.

Interests

Sharing things ... I love any social idea, like Couchsurfing, but I also used to use a liftshare website when I had a car, and also even hired out my car a few times through Whipcar.com (RIP)! So it follows that I love hitch-hiking too, it is such a good way to see a place and meet people but also I love the sharing aspect to it. Why put two cars on the road when you could just have one?

I like learning and improving languages, drawing and painting, being in or near water.

I love animals, especially cats.

Cooking and eating and sharing food is a pretty major part of my life.

I love reading, and also films, but I'll always read the book before seeing the film if I can. I love swimming, riding my bike and walking and quite like running. Art and community cohesion always fascinate me. I'm a trained journalist but that doesn't mean I'm an awful person.

• animals
• cats
• arts
• books
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• running
• walking
• drinking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• blogging
• painting
• drawing
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• swimming
• journalism
• languages
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

There have been phases of Paul Theroux, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Book club attendee.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling the whole first half of the Amazon River - Yurimaguas, Peru, to Manaus, Brazil - in a hammock on boats full of people and chickens.

OR

Watching about 20 orcas and orca babies hunt for sting rays a few metres from the shore just outside Wellington city centre, before work one morning. Mind blowing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can help improve your English, and perhaps your German if you are very bad! I can draw and paint ... maybe you need a mural? :) Sharing good food and drink is the best. I'm trying to learn Spanish.

What I Can Share with Hosts

When I surf with someone I think it's always nice to cook for the host if there is time, always something lovely and British if we can get the ingredients! Our signature dish is steak, ale and stilton pie, nom.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom

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