I live in Northern Quarter, Manchester with my girlfriend Caitlin. I spent quite a lot of my 20s around the world, as far afield as New Zealand, China, Korea, as well as closer to home in Iceland and a brief, tragic attempt at living in London. I pepper my life with excursions and wanderings, and most recently I'm focusing on my home country and Europe. Mostly just little trips now, so I’d love to hear about your huge adventures.

Originally I'm from the south, I moved up here to do an MSc in Urban Regeneration at the University of Manchester, and am now working full time in Sustainable transport, (so I'm busy in the day time). I consider myself well educated on the north south divide…

I live with my girlfriend in a little listed building close to everything. We have a spare bedroom, which my previous surfers will look upon enviously having spent their nights on a variety of hard, small sofas and varnished floorboards!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I first surfed in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, and was an immediate convert; my hosts just made the experience of being in those cities far more natural and exciting. When alone I find myself just a little lost, perhaps wandering inadvertently down some plain part of global suburbia trying to appreciate telephone wires and other curious things foreign travellers have the habit of noticing. I hosted a lot in Reykjavik, and loved showing people around the city and introducing them to my friends. Then when I lived alone in Manchester I was hosting regularly too, always enjoying it. I'm not into the idea of someone just crashing on my couch unless they want to hang out...

That's part of the reason why I'm on Couchsurfing; don't you find you never do the cool stuff in the place you live unless you're with someone who has a time limit there?

I also love meeting people from around the world and getting the world map in my head filled in with experiences and perceptions my surfers have. I have stayed in touch with most of my surfers and hosts either through Facebook or random whatsapp catchups

Interests

I am more of a music kind of guy than a sports guy, but slowly coming round to football now living in this cacophony of soccer.

• japanese food
• guitar
• cycling
• craft beer
• cities
• jogging
• indie music
• china
• urban planning
• maps
• world history
• environmentalism
• transportation
• indian music
• jazz music
• russian literature
• urbanism
• modern architecture
• rewilding
• drinking beer
• english literature
• new york city

Music, Movies, and Books

Indie, pop, alternative, electronic, jazz. Last record I bought was Bill Evans. I read a lot and watch a lot of movies. There will be Blood. We try to go and see independent films at the local cinemas fairly often (if they are open). Books: Robert Caro. Foundation trilogy. Biographies, history, fiction. Books about China. Cormac McCarthy probably had the biggest impact on me recently. Love John Steinbeck. In fact I keep reading books about that grand concept ‘the American West’... also, I read a lot about Alaska. And nature and ecosystems. And then about general societal or environmental collapse.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Burying dead birds in the rainforest, Belize. Handing out flyers at Shibuya crossing. Drinking kava in a dimly lit, muddy courtyard in Vanuatu. Horseriding in a thunderstorm in Inner Mongolia. Setting up a bookshop in Manchester. Circumnavigating Taiwan, sleeping in the car ... always sleeping in the car.

Teach, Learn, Share

Interested in mandarin Chinese, speak it to a childishly conversational level.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good local places to eat, drink, and local knowledge. Studying urban regeneration here I learnt a lot about the city so could be quite a good guide if you trust my crooked memories.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, England, Iceland, New Zealand, South Korea