CURRENT MISSION

Just travelling. Finding not searching. I have been travelling for almost 4 years now. A wonderful and sometimes challenging experience. The mysteries and the beauty of the natural, human and spiritual worlds continue to be a revelation to me.

ABOUT ME

I am content in my own company but love to meet the widest range of people in my travels. From old ladies who are sat next to me on a local bus to young people talking over breakfast or a beer at the hostel. I love visiting the markets and sharing a meal with the locals. But I also enjoy dressing up (as best I can from my rucksack) to go to an orchestral, operatic, dance or theatre performance.

I started my travels with a 3,000 km hike through the countrysides of France and England followed by a sail around Scotland and England. I just loved my 2 year exploration through all the countries in South America. My current journey is a slow and indirect overland from London to Australia with many diversions as the whims and opportunities take me.

Life is good and interesting (sometimes in the Chinese sense of that word). How long will I travel? I have no idea. I have enough journeys sketched out for many more years...but who knows what will happen, or who I may meet tomorrow? That's the best part.

PHILOSOPHY

Caring for each other and our world is all that ultimately matters. We really should treat each other - including future generations - as we would wish to be treated ourselves. This includes protecting the natural environment from those types of exploitation that destroy our children's legacy for short term gain. There are always more sustainable approaches to achieve similar ends.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

As I am travelling almost continuously, I could not act as a host yet. But when I do eventually take long breaks from travelling, then it will be wonderful to continue to meet travellers of all ages as their host.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Still a novice but great fun and experience so far.

Interests

Travel, conversation, hiking, sailing, rugby (the older I get, the better I was), reading, natural history, performing arts, visual arts, music.

My travels have awoken in me a deep interest in everything spiritual - especially the Wiccan, shamanic and Gaian beliefs and practices. A contrast to my Irish Catholic education and upbringing.

• arts
• performing arts
• design
• beauty
• dancing
• education
• environment
• cooking
• breakfast
• beer
• reading
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• sailing
• rugby
• teaching
• history
• visual arts

Music, Movies, and Books

I have very wide tastes in music from the classic and classical to the off-the-wall and popular. I confess to hanging on to my love of the music of the 60s and 70s a bit too much.

Steinbeck, George Orwell and Victor Hugo are the authors who helped form my socio-political views. Poirot, Inspector Morse and Douglas Adams help me pass a few lazy hours now and again.
Needless to say, I just love travel books from Joshua Slocum to Eric Newby to Paul Theroux. ............not to mention some of the blogs from current travellers.

I prefer arthouse to blockbuster movies, but have very wide tastes excepting perhaps horror and teenage rom-com movies. My favourite movies are Diva, Blues Brothers, Prospero's Books and Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

So many ordinary things can seem extraordinary when travelling in this wonderful world. From la naturaleza to the kindness and beauty of strangers.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm barely a jack-of-all-trades, and certainly not a master of any. That just about sums up what you learn in corporate management, I guess.

Corporate strategy and information systems design aren't too much use when you're on a broken-down bus in some remote corner of Bolivia.

But I'm happy to help and give anything a go........and I do.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good conversation across a whole range of lighthearted, intellectual, cultural and meaningful topics. A good dinner companion whether I am sharing the cooking, or inviting you to join me at your favourite, local restaurant. A perspective of life and living which reflects my own out-of-the-ordinary life journey to date.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Bermuda, United Kingdom