CURRENT MISSION

Play ukulele on every ferris wheel I visit, croon like Chet Baker, and relearn swing dance (on Wednesdays...so visit join me!) and hopefully play something at a future open mic.

ABOUT ME

I enjoy meeting people and making new friends.

I like making rough plans and seeing how the moment can provide changes

I AM CANADIAN...and yes, the beaver is a truly brave, and noble animal

I am still waiting to make friends with an Austrian nun who has turned into a governess. I imagine a magical experience detailing her penchant for random break-out singing, and discussing a few of her favorite things.

I...believe in social causes, and respect the efforts of others to raise awareness of the needs of those who cannot speak for themselves.

...love having a good laugh, and put great stock in my friends.

...would rather have 5 dear friends I could trust and enjoy my life with, than 200+ acquaintances I hardly know and hear from.

PHILOSOPHY

(on personal growth)
Surround yourself with five people that inspire you, and you shall become greater than you are today.

Surround yourself with those that bring you down, and you shall never be more than a background spectator in your own life.

(on love and travel)
"There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me..."

(on success...with nods to George Burns)

I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Vancouver is my "home town" or base of origin, but I'm currently situated in Vietnam.

I am ready to meet up with travellers, keep company, answer questions, hear your tale, drink and or dine along with...but I'm a terrible tour guide.

Hosting in Vietnam has given me more unpleasant experiences than good, so for now I am not opening my doors to hosting.

In any case, my flat is far from the center so people wanting to save money won't save anything here.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I can safely say that I have thoroughly enjoyed what my hosts and fellow surfers have given me in terms of experience and their good company.

Making new friends and learning about the places I visit through the people I meet is a big part of travel for me. And of course, if any of the folks I've met on my journey were to cross paths with me, I'd be happy to see them again!

For my part, I try to share and give back to my hosts and guests along the way. Running across another epicurean might make challenge me to be an even better cook! I leave my praise for each host on the feedback.

Interests

Live music, engaging conversation

(that doesn't mean I'm your confessor, parent, or psychiatrist though...)

...engaging silence, coffee, great food, cooking, learning dance, road trips, photography, film festivals, monuments, cheese, wine, beer, taking part in academic activities (when I'm traveling), volunteering, clown salsa.
Ooh ooh....took up a new hobby. Ukulele.
(https://goo.gl/KTswgs)

I like to anthropomorphize pets

• animals
• pets
• arts
• singing
• photography
• festivals
• film festivals
• dancing
• causes
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• cheese
• beer
• coffee
• running
• drinking
• traveling
• socializing
• painting
• music
• live music
• tourism
• volunteering
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Muzik
Bruno Mars, Owl city, Joanna Wang, Marit Larsen, Sheryl Crow, Franz Ferdinand, Green Day, Scissor Sisters, Chet Baker, Nina Simone, Lou Reed, House of Pain, Kanye West, The Beatles, Elvis, Frank Black and the Catholics, Manu Chao, Lily Allen, Blue Rodeo, Sixpence none the Richer, Roy Orbison, Bjork, The Proclaimers, Robert Palmer, Violent Femmes, David Bowie, Dexys Midnight Runners, Good Charlotte, Calexico, R.E.M., Traveling Wilburys, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers The People People (startup band I saw in Melbourne), Ben's Brother, and what about Huey Lewis and the News!?, the soulful RAY CHARLES ...
Some books...
Breakfast of Champions, Don Quixote, The Lovely Bones, Time Traveller's Wife, For one more Day, Candide, The Alchemist, The Nasty Bits, Kitchen Confidential, Five people you meet in Heaven
Movies
Back to the Future, Oceans Eleven, Princess Mononoke, Mad Detective, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Boondock Saints, Maria Full of Grace, The Matrix, Zatoichi, The Road Home, Ghost Rider, 30 Days of Night, Gone Baby Gone, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 3:10 to Yuma, Jared and Jerusha Hess' films (Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre), Pulp Fiction, Let the Right One In, [REC], Ringu, Avatar, Memento, 500 Days of Summer, The Reader...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

...ended up knockin' back whiskey shots, singing Beatles tunes, and smoking cigars with the undercover cops who were observing me in Myanmar

...retrieved an engagement ring for a friend in Australia, and travelled across Asia through to Eastern Europe to wingman his proposal...

...became the first foreigner to enter the childhood home of Marguerite Duras' forbidden lover in 2006..

...camped out in the jungle among a group of elephants...

...walked around in public with a fake moustache for a record 45 minutes! (it came off because I was sweating on the upper lip)

walked into a small Latvian town in the middle of winter, stumbled into an art school and took an impressionist painting class while the headmaster tried to figure out who i was and why i was there
(Hmm..I think it's funny at least.)

Anyway..all this because one day I decided to say "YES"

Teach, Learn, Share

Cooking. French. English. Ukulele. Humor. Conversation.
Sometimes I laugh.
Sometimes I cry.

Sometimes, I just don't know why.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My tender sensibilities.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, China, Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, China, Viet Nam

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