I'm back in Shanghai since July 2024 following a little break, but first moved here in 2019. Happy to help fellow CSers visiting where I can.

My dream is to move to Greece and buy a little apartment there and learn to sail.

Socialist. Spent most of my adult life in London after university and a year in China. More recently I changed career and moved first to Bristol, then Catania in Sicily, Italy; and then returned to China, where I have since lived in Jinhua, Shanghai, and Tianjin in China; and also in Singapore for some time.

I like to write. I’m interested in literature, history and politics. I also bake bread.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I believe in the social and cultural experience of travelling, and making lifelong friends.
I can actually be a little bit of an introvert, and enjoy my downtime, but am certainly keen on avoiding big hotels robbing me. I very much support the pro-community, anti-alienation ethos of CS.
I also think it would be very nice to make new friends passing through Shanghai and would be happy to give them the benefit of my local knowledge.

Interests

• writing
• baking
• walking
• hiking
• sailing
• anthropology
• dialects
• history
• beach
• cultures
• wilderness
• ancient history
• wild camping
• socialism
• greece
• ancient cultures
• ancient greece
• wild swimming
• walking in nature
• rome
• marxism
• baking bread
• walking around the city
• siesta
• materialism
• hiking in the mountains
• history and culture

Music, Movies, and Books

Leonard Cohen, Daft Punk, Queen, Kate Bush, 80s pop, A lot of embarrassing 90s indie, Casablanca, The Lives of Others, The Reader, The Iron Heel, Oil!, Tolkien, The Old Man and the Sea, On the Road

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling across Europe solo just by train and boat.
Written an unsuccessful self-published novel.
Moving to live and teach in China.
Surviving the Shanghai lock-down.

Teach, Learn, Share

Indeed! Now less wine, for I am attempting to be dry

What I Can Share with Hosts

If you like I can bring my sourdough starter and we can bake if you have an oven :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Greece, Italy, Singapore, United Kingdom