I'm quite tall. I'm almost completely unlike Boris Johnson. My favourite part of the day is mealtimes. I write for money, and for my own entertainment.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Staying with generous folks who are interested in sharing their culture is an ideal way to learn more about a country, rather than just getting a shallow feel for it by ticking off the big tourist sites.

Plus, it's much better to buy a bottle of wine to share with my host than to pay for a hotel and go without the wine.

Interests

I studied human rights and keep up my interest in the human interest and politics of the places I travel to.

My preferred means of transport is walking. Ambling around a city or trekking in the wilderness keeps me happy and sane.

Food is my other main interest. I love to try every local speciality and all the booze that goes with it.

• culture
• books
• human rights
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• walking
• politics
• traveling
• hiking

Music, Movies, and Books

The Smiths are my favourite band. I love 80s in general. Anything that's on BBC Radio 6 is good. My current rec is Ephemerals - London funk and soul band.

My favourite book is Animal Farm.

My favourite film is a tie between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Topsy-Turvy. I also love cartoons - The Triplettes of Belleville is a top choice.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While hiking in the West Bank with a couple of friends we came across a guy and his wife walking the other way. He turned out to be Raja Shehadeh, who literally wrote the book on Palestinian Walks. He had a little talk to us and gave us some pointers - we ended up following his direction and finding an amazing arboretum, where we met even more friendly locals and learnt all about their eco-activism project. It was the best set of pure coincidences.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm keen to practice my Spanish. I'm ashamed of only being able to speak one language. I want to change this while I'm in South America.

I hope you can share your love and knowledge of your home town with me; I want to know it all.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I speak English pretty good! I'm happy to practice - it would be great if you could practice Spanish or Arabic with me.

I'm also a pretty good cook, so if you want to learn to make enchiladas or a cake (or just eat them) I can make that happen.

Politics, human rights and development are things I'm really interested in - if you like to talk about this sort of thing, hopefully we can learn from each other.

Countries I’ve Visited

Chile, France, Germany, Japan, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Chile, Japan, Palestine, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States