Hi everyone
I'm Tony. I left the trap of the rat race in London in December 2008. I started travelling then in Central America and Mexico, followed by 15 months in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Then I lived in Brazil for 4 years, and spent the next 2 years living between Roatan in Honduras, and Bucaramanga in Colombia. I now have a camper van and am heading North from Ushuaia.
I love to travel so I'm happy to be back on the road for real. I'm an avid scuba diver (and freelance instructor), including tec diving. I'm also a paragliding pilot, looking forward to getting many more hours under my wing in South America.
Keen environmentalists. Plastic free. Palm oil free. Open the cages. Etc. Etc.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I actually joined CS back in 2009/2010 and used it a couple of times to meet up with people. I let it slide after that for various reasons; mostly because I wasn't travelling any more. Now I'm BACK! Looking forward to meeting some cool people, whether travellers or locals, to share experiences and advice. Really keen to nail Spanish once and for all. I get by pretty well but want to consider myself fluent asap. I'm keen to try an actual couch surf experience in someone's place as well. I love the idea, and think this community is awesome.

Interests

Scuba diving and paragliding are my current active passions, but I really want to get back into multiday hiking and camping, off the beaten track. I prefer not to go on tours for this kind of thing. It gives you more freedom, isolation, and a greater sense of achievement when you go it alone.
Essentially love the outdoors.
I am also become more of an environmentalist as time goes by. I am passionately against single use disposable plastic due to the harm it is causing wildlife directly, and humans indirectly. Getting the message across is hard but I keep plugging away. Starting to try to become vegetarian, or at least significantly cut down on meat, again for environmental, and animal welfare reasons. I do love meat though so this one is really tough!

• culture
• music festivals
• coffee
• movies
• music
• live music
• hiking
• scuba diving
• paragliding
• food
• cinema
• trekking
• meeting new people
• meeting interesting people
• treking
• mountain hiking
• long distance hiking
• drinking beer
• getting off the beaten track
• hiking in the mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

i'm pretty open minded on music. Long live Spotify for choosing new stuff for me. It makes my life so much easier! Having said that, I'm still into the music I grew up with, funky house, trance, UK Britpop, classic rock, etc.. The best ones are making their way into the mainstream again - I heard it first time round!
Open on movies as well. Top choices would include; The Wizard of Oz (seriously), The Shawshank Redemption, The original Star Wars, The Goonies, Terminator, The Matrix, etc.. The list goes one, but anything that breaks new ground ticks the box for me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wow! Just one? That's tricky. I've been to 200 feet below the sea to see ship wrecks, I've flown free for over 2 hours using nothing but a piece of cloth and warm air. I saw Lonely George in the Galapagos before he sadly died. I've been to the Northern most tip of South America, and stood at the top of snow capped volcanoes at 6000m to see the sunrise. I've trekked unassisted for 9 days, and slept at 4800m, to wake up surrounded by donkeys and cows. I've taken a boat down an Amazon tributary to Iquitos. I've seen awe inspriring Mayan ruins in the depths of the Guatemalan jungle, and Inca Ruins in the Sacred Valley of Peru, and Machu Pichu. I've met some incredible people, and opened my mind. The list is endless! How do you pick just one???

Teach, Learn, Share

Looking to practice Spanish as much as possible. Open to teach what I can, learn what I'm able to, and share what I have.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Experiences, stories, outlook on life. A beer, a coffee, a meal (I'm pretty handy in the kitchen!), a glass of wine.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Antarctica, Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, England, Honduras, Scotland, Wales