CURRENT MISSION

Spend a year gaining wisdom, inner peace and fluency in French and German

ABOUT ME

I am a small-town Scottish kid all hung up on the wide world, the open road and the possibility of meeting you and telling you all my lame jokes. I am also a student of languages, so I tend to talk nonsense in French, German and Spanish, and stare blankly into the middle distance. That's me thinking about grammar.

PHILOSOPHY

It's important (so I have always been told) to take advantage of your youth while you have it. Money only matters as long as it gets you to what you really want (unless that's more money). And it's not about 'vivre le mieux' but 'vivre le plus', whatever that means :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Currently I am mainly looking to travel with couch surfing, in order to meet interesting people and get a better perspective on the places I visit than I would otherwise. I would also like to meet any couch surfer visiting Edinburgh who wants to chat, have a drink, be shown around the town or have any local advice of any kind.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Having travelled around more in the past 18 months than at any other time in my life, I have met lots of people who have been couch surfers or hosts, and have had great experiences - this has made me want to participate myself.

Interests

Music, particularly guitars and drums of all kinds, languages and literature, - history of all kinds, salsa dancing, writing, PEOPLE, international developent.

• culture
• writing
• literature
• dancing
• salsa dancing
• cooking
• drinking
• boating
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• drums
• surfing
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

(in no particular order) Bob Dylan, Ben Folds, Ali Farka Touré, Tinariwen, Youssou N'Dour, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Million Dead (and Frank Turner), Jason Mraz, Cake, Bob Marley, Justice, Daft Punk, SebastiAn, Jackbeats, Lupe Fiasco, Talking Heads, Death Cab for Cutie, Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Fall Out Boy, John Martyn, The Smiths, Paul Simon, Orchestra Baobab, Pete Atkins, Richard Thompson, Ry Cooder, U2, The Who, the 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack... and many, many, many more.

Loads of amazing books - some of those that have rocked my world include: On the Road, Wuthering Heights, L'Étranger, A Tale of Two Cities, Lord of the Rings, Catch 22, When We Were Orphans (Kazuo Ishiguro is just great), I Served the King of England, Confederacy of Dunces, Puckoon (Spike Milligan), all of the 'Ant and Bee' books.

Films? I just saw 'Scott Pilgrim Against the World'. That absolutely rocked.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

ARRIVING IN TIMBUKTU AFTER THREE DAYS OF TRAVELLING UP THE NIGER RIVER IN A TINY, LEAKY BOAT FULL OF RICE, JAMMING AKON ON THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach English, and anything about the culture of Britain or Scotland. I can tell you lots of the ghost stories of old Edinburgh.

I would love to learn how to cook dishes from different countries!