CURRENT MISSION

To meet as many random crazy people as I can squeeze into my day. Send me a message and get your ass to York

ABOUT ME

I can be shy. I can be outgoing. I can be anywhere in between. It depends on my mood. I love to drink. I don't like very drunk people. I accidentally drove into Liechtenstein twice in six months. I accidentally drove into Germany twice in two hours. I'm hopelessly addicted to Nestle Flipz, and the fact that they are no longer on sale in the UK makes my every waking moment almost unbearable. I have an annoyingly strong moral compass. I drive too fast, and have a collection of speeding tickets from around the world. I have been arrested once in my life, in Kazakhstan. I'm hopelessly, hopelessly sentimental, and have been known to well up at even the cheesiest of movies (but probably won't tell you which ones for fear of humiliation). I listen to music too loud, and have a constant ringing in my ears. I love to stay in bed all day. I love sandwiches. I once drove from the UK to Switzerland to go on a first date. From this I learned that Interlaken is amazing, Zurich is expensive, Luzern is beautiful and hypoglecemic women can get quite tetchy when they miss a meal or two. If I didn't meet new people life wouldn't be worth living. I've driven the second highest road on earth in a Ford Fiesta. It still amazes me (and fills me with guilt) when foreign visitors speak better English than I do. I have a disturbing weakness for romantic comedies. I pretend to read worthy books but secretly read Terry Pratchett. I obsessively collect guide books, city maps and plane tickets. Many people think I'm strange. I don't want to be normal. If I had one wish, it would be that I could play my violin - it sits on my bookcase, silently glaring at me in its evil violiny way. If I had two wishes, the other would be that I could play the piano. I smoke far too many cigarettes for my own good. I say no to drugs. I'm a sucker for a cute accent. I'm a magnet for insane people. I drink so much Diet Coke my organs are probably pickled in aspartame. I can't travel light. I like to sit on rooftops. I have the easiest life of anyone I know. I like to give gifts to people. I don't like people to give me gifts. I want to learn how to cook. I have small hands. I like snow. I like sand. I hate trains. I love planes. I love Paris. I loathe Venice. I love Munich. I love Barcelona. I love Melbourne. I love Beijing. I love Ulaanbaatar. I heart New York. Luxembourg is OK. I love to sleep in the mountains. I can only sing when I'm drunk, but I'm told I'm not bad. I want to build an amazing treehouse. I trust everyone until they give me a reason not to.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm supposed to be too grown up for trite catchphrases, but I suppose an accurate one would be 'a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet'.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

The best nights of my life have been spent in hostel bars across the world meeting more people in an hour than I would in a year back home, so this seems like a great way to bring a little of the travelling experience back here when I'm unable to get away. I'm fascinated by something as small as the fact that foreigners spent their pocket money on slightly different chocolate bars as kids (I'm easily impressed), so the opportunity to host the occasional guest from some exotic locale is not to be missed (N.B. Bobcaygeon, Ontario and one horse towns in New South Wales count as exotic and exciting, even if you spent 25 years trying to escape them).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Seventeen guests, Seventeen new friends. This is how religions are started.

Krystle Medina - Australia
Laura Rutishauser - Switzerland
Corey Marino - USA
Glenn - New Zealand
Maria - Finland
Lior Slepkov - Canada
Axel Keating - Republic of Ireland
Kaisa Rasinkangas - Finland
Erin Zukiwski - Canada
Ryan Norris - Canada
Brennan Bajdek - USA
Marja Kay - USA
Simon Buckden - UK
Jade Pleming - USA
David Santa Maria - Mexico
Hwan Hill - USA
Stavros - Greece

Interests

Writing, travelling, watching movies, propping up the bar at the local pub, meeting new people and being able to make a new best friend by sharing stories about the insane people you meet and crazy experiences you have while trying to postpone the flight home as long as possible.

I love mountains more than anything. There's something strangely calming about trying to fit the idea of something as vast as a mountain into something as small as my head.

I love borders, frontiers and barriers: rivers, oceans, mountain ranges - anything that can make me wonder what's on the other side.

I don't like cities. Too many people, too much noise. I love them for a few days but then need to escape to somewhere more peaceful.

I love to tell stories, and I love to hear them even more.

• dogs
• writing
• books
• singing
• make up
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• beer
• dieting
• running
• drinking
• pub crawls
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• music
• piano
• violin
• outdoor activities
• cartography
• religion
• tourism
• beaches
• rivers
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: It's a Wonderful Life, The Shawshank Redemption, Once, Das Leben der Anderen, Zwartboek, Eagle vs Shark, Groundhog Day, The Truman Show, Pan's Labyrinth and hundreds more from my comically large DVD collection.

Music: Too much to know where to begin. Give me some acoustic guitar and a good voice and I'm happy.

Books: Anything. Everything. Anytime. Anywhere. I've been obsessed by the written word since I could first pick up a pencil.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Everything is amazing when you look at it from the right angle. Ever seen a caterpillar up close?

Teach, Learn, Share

Forget about stereotypes. Are Americans arrogant? Do the French smell? Are the Scots tight-fisted and the English cold-hearted? Meet a few and make up your own mind. My money is on no.

Never leave a car overnight outside the gym near the beach in Barcelona. Trust me on this one.

Don't be afraid of travelling to the former USSR. Central Asia is incredible.

If you want to see the final frontier you should look no further than Mongolia. It's the closest thing to the Wild West that exists in the modern day.

If you're in Turin and an Italian dude named Stefan tells you he's going to go and get help, prepare yourself for a long wait and ultimate disappointment.

Don't try to sleep outdoors within 100 miles of Milan. The dogs WILL get you.

Also, don't try to drive through Milan after dark, because the moped riders will beat the dogs to it.

There are no more friendly people on earth than those in Turkmenistan. Trust me on this.

If you're ever in Istanbul you should find the Arastra Bazaar near the Hagia Sophia. Approaching from the east you'll find a tiny shop on your left - the fourth or fifth along - with a display of shisha pipes and trinkets outside. The young man running the place is named Faruk Guven, and he's well worth getting to know. There are very few genuinely good people left, and he's one of them.

Russian people are lovely. You just have to beat your way through their crispy shell to reach their sweet, creamy centre.

When staying in Barcelona, spend a night in Kabul on Plaça Reial. Be on the roof with a beer at 6:30 and let the games begin.

The Donghuamen night market in Beijing is a great place for strange food. Try the scorpion kebab. Avoid the seahorse and snake skin unless you're trying to be adventurous - they taste nasty - and be sure to barter.

When staying in Munich, spend a night in the Wombar on Senefeldestrasse. When you're tired of the Wombar you're tired of life.

When staying in Apollo Bay, Victoria, under no circumstances should you drunkenly jump in the back of a minibus full of Australians. They have a devious plan. Have you ever tried to fight your way out of a rainforest in a thunderstorm at 3AM? I have.

If you're driving in Europe, plan to spend a night sleeping in your car in the Alps or the Pyrenees. Wait until after dark before you hit the mountains, drive for an hour or so then find a layby to spend the night. You'll be more amazed by the view when you wake up in the morning than you would if you'd driven in during daylight.

Don't play beer pong in New York with a Patrick Swayze lookalike. He will have a surprisingly good aim.

Never cross the Caspian Sea on a freight ferry unless you're looking for a tale of privation to beat any your friends will tell you when their planes are delayed and their luggage lost. In fact, do it. If you haven't been forced to go to the toilet out of a window you haven't lived.

Bill and Ted got it right. Be excellent to each other.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mongolia, Thailand, United Kingdom

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