CURRENT MISSION

To become a more active Global Citizen

ABOUT ME

I left Canada in 1989 and came to Australia - originally for one year - but it became the rest of my life. I do not regret this.

I have reinvented my life - geographically, personally and professionally - many times, and for some reason every time I do it seems to work out well.

I am unimpressed (and frankly worried) by the current direction of the world and believe that this is only going to improve when all of us start to be the change we want to see. I have a strong interest and involvement in social justice issues. Julian Assange will be vindicated.

Quietly spoken and intellectual? OK. Outspoken and non-conformist? That too. Sometimes accused of being very funny. Always seen as relaxed and easygoing. This is unnerving to many people in my profesion. Must be the meditation...

I prefer spending time with one or two people rather than being part of a pack. I live and work in the city, but the best part of it is going to the country - which I do pretty regularly.

I have two teenage children who are throwing themselves into the world of art, music and travel. I am very proud of them for this.

PHILOSOPHY

There is more that connects us than separates us. But it is the differences that make life interesting.

("If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other...")

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted 17 couchsurfers already.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My experiences have been terrific so far. Since posting my profile in late December 2010 I have hosted couchsurfers from France, Spain, Canada, China, India, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Argentina.

Interests

Travel, history, politics, yoga/meditation, science and the philosophy of science, comparative religion, photography, music, hiking, fishing, bicycling, cooking - anything and everything that feeds body, mind and spirit

• arts
• photography
• cooking
• yoga
• working out
• meditation
• politics
• traveling
• music
• piano
• fishing
• hiking
• scuba diving
• history
• religion
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Man Facing Southeast, Across the Universe, Inception, Avatar, Up In The Air, A Civil Action, Amelie, The Social Newtork, Le Concert, The King's Speech, Hanna...and the occasional Woody Allen

Music: The Chemical Brothers, Groove Armada, "Chill" music generally, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream (OK, this dates me I know), Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen, Crash Test Dummies, Kate Miller Heidke, The Cure, Simple Minds...lots of classical music as well, but I draw the line at opera.

Books: The Black Swan, The History of Love, Voltaire's Bastards, Gravity's Rainbow, The Life of Pi, The God Delusion, Gould's Book of Fish, South of the Border - West of the Sun, The Handmaid's Tale, The Remains of the Day

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Worked on an oil rig in northern Canada. Slept out in the Sahara Desert. Have been to Machu Piccu, the salt flats of Bolivia, Lake Tittikaka and the Pyramids. Been bungy-jumping, scuba diving and trekking in Nepal.

All of the above pretty cool. Cutting my daughter's umbilical cord: amazing.

Am convinced that Dubai will be the first stop when the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse make their ride...

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a bit about photography but am keen to learn more. I have a piano but would like to learn to play it better. I can cook but want to learn more "foreign" cooking. I can teach you how to catch a trout in a mountain stream...

Eventually I want to organise "house swapping" so that I can spend a month or so in another country.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland

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