CURRENT MISSION

Living and working in Shanghai

ABOUT ME

I left the UK in 1998 to work in Kuwait for 2 years. I got pretty good at home brewed wine and even learned a little bit of Arabic. I left for a year out in 2000 and travelled a bit around South India before going to France for a few months to help my parents move into their beautiful but dilapidated farmhouse. Next, I moved to Dubai and ended up staying there until June 2007. Amazing how time flies! En route to NZ, I spent time travelling around Europe, including 3 months in the UK visiting parts that I didn't know. I popped in to have a look at Marrakech and visited friends in Oz before arriving in NZ for the first time in December 2007. I spent a year working in Wellington and discovered some amazing things to do there. In 2009 I spent a few months in South America, first a quick trip to Argentina, then volunteering in Peru and traveling around Ecuador and Chile until May...then returned to NZ via Europe and Asia, Whakatane to be exact. Following 3 and half years working in Ethiopia, I took another year out to travel once more (why wait til retirement?!) London-Toronto-Vancouver-Honolulu-Tokyo-Seoul-Taipei-Manila-Singapore-Sydney-Auckland-Wellington-Melbourne-Bangkok-Burma-Laos-Vietnam-Bali-India-London, a mixture of staying with friends, at hotels, and Couchsurfing too. Following that, I worked for a year in Hong Kong and am now in Shanghai which is home for now.
I am slowing down on the country collection and am focusing on China next year although this year I did see Cuba and Iran.

Create your own travel map - TravBuddy

PHILOSOPHY

Smile! Be the best you can...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In Dubai I had two good friends who hosted other couchsurfers. I used to take on the overflow and managed to meet up with couchsurfers for coffee, drinks and city tours (not necessarily in that order!)

So I have hosted in Dubai, NZ, and Ethiopia for more than a decade...I have also surfed myself in South America, New Mexico and Fiji. Looking forward to more surfing this year.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosting is great because it gets me out exploring too.

Surfing has also been fun...I have been very lucky to have some excellent hosts. Thank you!!

BUT I do wish that those people who abuse the honesty and "give and take" principle of this network would choose another one...)

Interests

Food...cooking it, eating it. Yum.

Photography...just for fun

TRAVELLING (of course!)

• photography
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• coffee
• drinking
• traveling
• surfing
• chemistry
• tourism
• volunteering
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Eclectic mix of tastes, classics to modern, fact or fiction, rock or jazz, love a good read and good music (especially if it is live!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Most recently, watching lava/ magma spewing out of Ert'ale volcano in the Denekil in Ethiopia. Years ago it was hitching a flight over Kenya in a hot air balloon.

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach for a living, so I prefer to learn from other people...having said that, I am a terrible student, like so many of us teachers! What can I teach? Well, um, chemistry?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Happy to host in Shanghai. Also happy to travel around China if it coincides with my holidays.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Peru, Seychelles, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Ethiopia, France, Hong Kong, Kuwait, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

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