CURRENT MISSION

To live overseas and truly experience what it is like to be immersed in another culture. Failing that, travelling is the next best thing!

ABOUT ME

I'm a friendly, extroverted and intelligent guy who loves to travel and learn about foreign languages and cultures, and loves to bore people with stories of my travels or foreign languages and cultures!

I love music (particularly indie in its various shades, hip hop/r'n'b, electronica and some old school soul every now and then)and reading- magazines and articles are the norm, but I will sneak in a cheeky novel now and then!

I also love food of all kinds (spicy = good!) and love my ales and porters (actually, almost any beer is fine. Wine too.). A night in chatting and drinking is as good as a night out, and I can party with the best of them!

Also, I hate having to mention this here, but I am gay. Not a flamboyant, Barbara Streisand-loving, ultra-fashionable gay (not that I have anything against those people- I wish I had their sense of fashion and confidence!). I'm just a regular guy who happens to be gay. If that may be a problem for you, I suggest you don't consider hosting or staying with me. Otherwise, say hi!

PHILOSOPHY

I would love to have one sweet, concise little philosophy to live my life by, but I know that there are too many moods, feelings, situations and experiences in life to warrant merely ONE philosophy. But maybe that in itself is a philosophy....

However, what I can say is that travel has taught me that the way you live, think, speak, eat, drink, walk, run, and even *be* is not the ONLY way- there are so many ways to live our lives, and what better way to try and experience them all than through travel? And even better than that, travel with a local ;)

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've surfed many a couch (see below) and even been to the odd CS event in London and Portugal, and have also had the great privilege of hosting Paul from Russia and Mathieu from Canada, and had a great time with each of them! Hosting is great fun and I love sharing my home with people, and can't wait to do it again, once I move into a more suitable place :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Well, where do I begin?? Perhaps at the very beginning, which (as Maria von Trapp reminds us), is "a very good place to start"...Enter Belgrade, in the chilly, rainy month of March 2010...my first true CS experience with Iva & Marko, whose great hospitality was only matched by their intelligence and genuine curiosity.

Second up to bat is Joro in Sofia, Bulgaria, who was possibly the most generous and giving of all CS hosts I've ever met and ever hope to come across- no task was too big for him to assist with or even accomplish, and his knowledge of his country and his desire to share it with the world were truly inspirational.If I ever go back to Sofia, you will be the first person I call upon!

Mehmet comes next, in the great Istanbul, where I'm happy to say I had probably one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life. He demonstrated to me the joys of hosting, and also that no space is too small to host as many people as possible. Thanks for all the anecdotes, and for showing me how to brew Turkish coffee, and introducing me to the delights of Tavla!!

Necmi and Khoi come next, both of them showing me the delights of simply relaxing and taking it easy by the sea in Antalya. If I need any help in relaxing by the beach and chilling out, I'll give you a call!

From Turkey, my CS experiences jump al the way across the continent to Spain, where I had an awesome time with ever-laughing Elena and her housemates and fellow CSers, Ines and David (and don't forget Ian!)

Ricardo in Portugal was next, for whom I had the honour of being his first CS guest (and hopefully not the last!) Thanks for taking me out on the town and showing me the delights of Lisbon in festival time!

From here we jump forward to Michael in Munich, who is probably the most accomplished CS host I've ever seen- simultaneously hosting a plethora of guests, of all ages and walks of life. And is there anything you don't provide?? Talk about generous! (I just wish I'd stuck around for that ride in the M7! ;P)

Wolf in Salzburg is next up, who, depsite my lamentable lateness and some phone-based confusion, turned out to be a fantastically chirpy and entertaining guy- thanks also for inviting me to Hermann's party- it was a night I'll never forget (if only because I've never spoken so much German (so, so terribly) for so long before!)

Jumping forward to Leo in Hong Kong, who was more of a friend by this point, but hosted me for 6 days and showed me a side of the city I wouldn't have otherwise seen (namely, eating fancy burgers on a rooftop and being tear gassed). Thanks for a great experience, and sorry about leaving the chocolates in your fridge!

I've also had the occasional opportunity to host, when Paul from Russia landed on my couch, followed by Mathieu from Canada (several times ;P)! I had a lot of fun hosting, and was surprised at how easy it was!

So that is a (rather exhaustive) history of my CS experience up until this point. But I hope there will be plenty more in the years to come!

Intereses

Music is one of my greatest loves! although unfortunately I don't get to listen to it as much as I would like while on the road! However, when I do it is invariably a sweet and fulfilling (or loud and raucous, electronic and techtonic) experience.

I also LOVE to read, and I will read almost anything! I am a truly voracious reader- magazines, novels, non-fiction periodicals, even crappy advertising pamphlets will not escape my roving, reading eye. Basically, if it has letters, I WILL read it! (Did I mention that includes License Plates?) ;)

Apart from that, Languages and foreign cultures are also a budding interest. I love the idea that something as personally fundamental as Language and Culture can be so varied and different across the world, and yet at the same time can be so very much the same! Curiouser and curiouser.....

• culture
• books
• literature
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• music
• blues
• business
• history
• languages
• beaches

Música, películas y libros

Indie music in its various shades; pop, rock, electro/nica, etc; Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver, Jens Lekman, Jose Gonzalez, The Knife, Bjork, The Presets, Sigur Ros, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Whitest Boy Alive, The xx, The Sleepy Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest, Crystal Castles, Azealia Banks, Familjen, New Order, Joy Division, The Kinks, LCD Soundsystem, Cold War Kids, Naysayer & Gilsun, Best Coast, Arcade Fire, Bill Callahan and so on and so forth...

Also old school soul and blues- Marlena Shaw, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes- the occasional spot of jazz or country, roots and blues- Lucinda Williams and Woody Guthrie, Glen Miller Band, etc. etc.

Books- I am a voracious reader and will read almost anything, even if it's in another language! But my particular favourites include any novel with an "unreliable narrator"; Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, as well as anything by Truman Capote.

While travelling I aimed to read a novel by an author from each country I visited- I've done Sciascia, Kafka, Joyce, Wells and Homer so far, but still have several more to go!Maybe you can help me? ;)

Algo increíble que he hecho

TWICE we had an echidna in our backyard...That was pretty amazing ;)

Enseña, aprende, comparte

People who are smart, occasionally philosophical but don't take themselves too seriously. I like to think about the bigger issues and experiences (but that doesn't mean I know everything about them!) and love people who are willing to share their experiences with me!

However, I also love trash and pop culture in all its forms, particularly if it relates to the Simpsons! Plus I'm a big fan of innuendo and am not above low-brow humour and puns. Anyone who fulfills the above categories gets my vote!

Qué puedo ofrecer a los anfitriones

I like to think I am a generous and open minded person, who can share experiences with hosts, rather than just crash on their couch. I have a deep knowledge of my home town, country and culture (both the good and the bad), and am not afraid to share my opinions or thoughts on these and other topics. Likewise I hope you won't be afraid to share your thoughts, feelings and opinions with me.

Países que he visitado

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Viet Nam

Países en los que he vivido

Australia, Italy, United Kingdom

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