CURRENT MISSION

Please read the whole profile or don't expect an answer to your request, I am not providing a last minute free hotel room to a random stranger with no manners or profile. If you have not created an interesting profile don't bother asking. Couchsurfing is a two way trade. Not interested in hosting boring people.
My mission is to bring joy to everyone I come into contact with and make the world a better place by sharing functional life skills both physical and mental while being a teacher of English language to small children and teenagers.

ABOUT ME

I am a single guy who would link his life to the right single girl. But she would have to be an extraordinary woman to deflect my interest from my current life of teaching, learning, growing and contributing. I have no interest in short term liaisons.
I Began my personal path of growth over 20 years ago when my marriage ended. Since then I have read many books, thought many thoughts and attended many personal growth events.
I no longer drink or smoke and I am very happy with that state of being, my life has soared since I freed myself from those burdens.

PHILOSOPHY

I am here on this earth for as long as I live and while I am here I intend to share the things I have learned by reading and doing.
it would be such a waste for so many skills to go un-shared.
I used to drink and smoke. I do neither now and I am very at peace with that no nagging desire to go back to using them. I know exactly how I achieved that and I am thrilled to share the information with anyone who has the desire to be healthy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING
Please note that I am only hosting on Friday to Sunday nights. I teach 6 class hours over 11 hours each day and go to bed very early on week days.
I am currently resident in Phnom Penh and not intending to travel. I always read profiles and only want to host interesting people. There is no expectation of bed sharing.
I am quite far out from the city centre near Chouk Meas market which you cna find on Google maps, but I have a spare bicycle if you are staying long enough to want to go anywhere. A tuktuk to get here will cost about a dollar per km at regular prices. Tourists get charged whatever the driver thinks he can get away with, so haggle.

I bring to you many practical life skills and a world of experience in understanding the human mind, how it works and why things go wrong. Why we do what we do and ways to make rapid change even with long term supposedly fixed issues such as addiction and phobias.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I joined this site as it is was perfect fit for the life I had been living as a traveller. Now I am settled for a while at least and it is my turn to host.
I have stayed on farms in Canada and ridden horses, seen and handled snakes, swam in lake Huron with a turtle. cared for Reindeer. worked on a vineyard for nine months driven wheeled and track laying tractors. done traditional Italian clay tiling built stone walls see all kinds of wildlife. photographed so many sunsets. made pizza in a wood fired oven.

Interests

I love to swim, cycle, visit mountains, rivers, the sea and generally wild places. I live in Phnom Penh for purely practical reasons. That is where the school that I teach in is located. I live 3km from the supermarket and I am 8km from the railway station.
DIY...I recently built kitchen counters using driftwood collected from the beach over the last year.
car mechanics welding

I am a wood turner and have become skilled at making things with a wood turning lathe. I don't currently have access to a lathe.
I love to take photographs, natural beauty, animals and especially people. The human facial expression is unlimited and captures a little piece of magic each time the camera goes click.
I also juggle, at one point my record was 400 catches with 3 balls but I am seriously out of practice.

• cats
• dogs
• fish
• writing
• books
• photography
• diy
• dining
• cooking
• raw food
• vegan
• gardening
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• cars
• socializing
• juggling
• drawing
• cycling
• fishing
• swimming
• teaching
• rivers
• mountains
• beach
• sea
• personal growth

Music, Movies, and Books

I read a lot of personal growth material.
health, nutrition and relationships.
history, biography, autobiography.
all kinds of fiction but especially SF. favourite authors include
Robert A Heinlein, Larry Niven, Ann McCaffery, Steven Barnes, Jerry Pournell, Michael Crichton (sp?)
Movies anything science fiction, rom coms, action.I use Netflix.
Music mostly from the past. Dire Straits, Pink floyd, The Moody Blues,Transvision Vamp, Shania Twain for example.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have walked on fire many times and help others to do the same. at last count the number is about 60,000. That equates to 14 fire walks I have so far helped with in four countries on two continents.
I swam laps continuously for 14 hours in a 25 meter pool to celebrate my 50th birthday. Over 2000 Euro was raised for children with Down Syndrome as a result of that
I can 'talk' to honeybees and herd them like sheep.
Road trip from New Jersey to Baytown Texas(near Houston)in two days, my first experience of driving on the right.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am currently a teacher of English in Phnom Penh. I have spent the last 5 years doing the same thing in a total of five schools. Two cities in China, two in Cambodia. I am very handy and can do most building (framing, brick/block laying, plastering plumbing electrical, painting) and farm maintenance including working on vehicle and small machine engines ( have owned a car since I was 17 and have not yet had to use a mechanic, done it all including engine rebuilds. I have chainsaw experience including tree climbing and I am competent to work in tight places close to high value structures. I have worked with organic farming/gardening methods. I am a beekeeper who specialized in removing bees alive from buildings etc. I can drive cars/trucks and tractors and similar machines. I have hand milked up to 20 goats. I make no claim to documented trade apprenticeships in any field I have learned by living. I have been hand making bread and pizza for over 40 years and I am a talented cook specializing in vegan food however my preference these days is for a mostly raw food diet however I also eat meat/fish from time to time. My cat's name is Dizzy, you need to tell me that in any request to surf or I will not be answering just to keep people paying attention. I enjoy cooking for large groups of people.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am not interested in long visits at this point. Two nights max, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are available unless we get along extremely well. I supply pillows and if you need it a towel but don't expect 4 star hotel quality. Bedroom is en suite; I will supply a good fan which you can use as much as you like. You will have access to kitchen, and washing machine. There is also a rooftop terrace.
There is wifi .
MY preference is for female guests simply because I find them more interesting conversationalists. I am open to being flexible about that. I have also decided to put a minimum age limit on guests of 30 but you are welcome to talk me around if you think it worth the time. I am not interested in talking about any team sports, religion, politics or drinking/partying. OK so convince me as to why I should accept you into my home.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cambodia, Canada, China, England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, United States, Wales