CURRENT MISSION

Complete Renaissance dude. I do everything, from cooking to martial arts to business to acting to singing, film making, writing and on and on...

ABOUT ME

Back on CS after almost 2 years away, I'll edit this all again soon!

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I love trying new stuff and am frightened of nothing. Well, a little bit of heights, but that's only because of an accident that broke my shoulder. And spiders; I don't like spiders. Or snakes. Okay, I guess that I'm frightened of quite a few things after all! :-D

My parents were missionaries so I spent 7 years of my childhood and youth in Central Africa. Too bad that they didn't have couch surfing then! :)

Here's an excerpt from a bio about me for the pilot of a TV show that I did a while back. If you'd like to know anything else about me, just ask! Happy couch surfing!

"William's unusually adventurous career began with buying and selling fish deep in the Congo where he spent his early teens as a missionaries' kid. Always a quick study, William started university at 16 with a scholarship and without finishing high school. His high level of intelligence and a can-do attitude honed during his youth in the Congo at the centre of Africa (Stanley's Heart of Darkness,) have led to numerous business accomplishments. [...] William is also a published poet, high C tenor, ex-martial arts instructor, and a published author on topics ranging from technology to philosophy to parenting and more.

William's professional career includes consulting for public companies such as Microsoft, Ford and various other Fortune 500 firms as well as smaller independent companies. Since moving to Toronto ... he has become a judge for the Gemini Awards and has also won acclaim as an actor, singer, screenwriter and producer. A talented tenor, William has standing invitations to perform in legendary rock and blues venues such as the South Street Rhythm and Blues Bar in Philadelphia and the Funky Pirate on Bourbon Street in New Orleans..."

PHILOSOPHY

"The key to happiness is freedom. The key to freedom is courage." I get emails every day from friends who "wish that they could just move" as I supposedly did. I tell them that all it takes is a plane ticket.

"Life is meant to be fun. If you aren't having any, then you're probably doing it wrong!"

"Relax. It's almost certain that nothing you're doing right now is actually that important." (This one took me a LONG time to learn!)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My then-girlfriend told me about Couch Surfing when we were planning to move to Dubai in 2007. Since then I've hosted many travelers and am hoping to take advantage of new opportunities to travel as well. Growing up as a missionary kid, my entire life was spent meeting new people, frequently hosting and being hosted by them. So the philosophy of CS seems very natural and easy to me.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My experience with couch surfing has been almost completely positive. There have been a few annoyances as the site has grown and more people have joined with the intent to travel for free without caring about what they give back, but very few. I have hosted maaaany people and love having the invitations to stay all over the world. More than that, I love having the chance to meet people whom I'd otherwise never have the chance to meet.

Interests

The description for this field said to "List anything that you are interested in." I don't have that much time! ;-) I like everything except extreme discomfort unless it's part of what I'm doing. For example, rally racing often produces extreme discomfort, but that's part of the rush.

I relax by cooking, I love music and physical activities. I love to be challenged. New ideas, concepts and ways of thinking excite and inspire me.

• fish
• arts
• writing
• singing
• performing arts
• film making
• acting
• cooking
• instructor
• meditation
• technology
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• blues
• fishing
• adventure races
• surfing
• martial arts
• business
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

Philosophy, science fiction, history, physics and other natural sciences: Sort of a "where did we come from, where are we going, why are we going there and how" type of approach to the world. I'm curious.

Movies that make me feel something, music that lets me express myself.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'm a bit shy about describing amazing things that I've done, it seems a bit like boasting. I've started and built $million companies, saved people's lives, stitched up a scalp wound in the rainforest in the middle of the night using rubber gloves, a sewing needle and fishing line, perfected a blueberry pancake recipe... the list goes on. :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm open to sharing any knowledge that I have. There are too many things to list right now, but feel free to ask.

Something that I would like to learn is web optimization. I know a fair bit, but I haven't been keeping up with it for the last several years, so any info on that would be lovely.

Things that I can teach include work/life balance, personal finance, anything related to business including venture capital, finance, HR, Operations, process engineering, business planning and more. I'm very, very good at meditation and am happy to share that ability, I'm also very good at business and personal networking.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am an excellent chef, physically fit adventurer and an excellent story teller! :-) I am genuinely good company and I love meeting people and spending time getting to know them.

Countries I’ve Visited

Burundi, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Kenya, Malta, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, United States