I'm a Caucasian South African citizen, Zambian by birth, grew up and studied in Durban and lived for 15 years in Cape Town.

Africa owns my soul ...
Developing nations are my passion ...

I'm in the final 2 weeks of a 5 month backpacking tour of India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Hong Kong.

I've done two 6-8 week stints of Volunteer English teaching on my travels:
* Hanoi - Vietnam
* Yangshuo - China

It's good to give back, to share and to live and explore like a local ... so much more rewarding than the standard tourist trail.

- - -

I'm 51 but have to remind myself of that every day. I feel the same age that I've always been ... a 12 year old kid, continuously learning, always exploring, seeking out new experiences ... trying to understand myself, my world, the planet we live on, the individual people & cultures I share it with ... and the mind boggling idea that we're an intelligent & caring (mostly) species living on a beautiful rock spinning through space, orbiting a pretty trivial sun, in a minor solar system, at the obscure fringe of one of billions of galaxies.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To live.
To laugh.
To learn.
To share.

To help & be helped.

To actively participate ... beyond trivial the mindless existence and repeating impersonal cycle of mere procreation of the species.

I'm a couchsurfing virgin ... hoping to pop my cherry and meet some good interesting people and share experiences that turn us into friends.

Interests

" A day without learning is a day wasted ..."

* Taoism
* Philosophy
* Problem Solving
* Science & Quantum Physics

I'm busy writing a Theoretical Physics paper on the nature of Fundamental Space, in search of a description of the Unified Field. 20 years of thinking. Brick walls encountered & overcome. Brain bleeds, sweats & tears.

I've finally got to the point where I know that I have something meaningful to contribute. It's all worked out in my head ... and now being poured out into paper ... to be subjected to critical peer review.

That's intellectual stuff above ... it defines me, but it's not all of me ...

I'm an avid cyclist - I bike every weekday for transport & social cycle on weekends.

A couple of cycle marathons under my belt:
* Cape Argus ( 109 km )
* Amashova ( 106 km )

I'm into good music, good books, good movies ...
* What do I mean by " good " ?
People who *have* to play, write or act.
They're doing it for *themselves* under some strange compulsion or possession of their soul ... not for the audience, not for us, but simply because they know no other way to live or breathe.

What don't I like ?
* Shallow enders, trivial, spiteful people trying to keep up with an image of themselves that they see from the outside ...

I try to live every day in such a way that when I fall asleep at night I can say to myself that I lived a *good* day ...
... a good day for me
... a good day for those I interacted with
... " I did the best I was capable of, I did the best I can "

• culture
• writing
• books
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• backpacking
• physics
• science
• software
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Short answers to a very long list ...

MUSIC:
British Indie
* The National
* Radiohead
Jazz
* Miles Davis
* John Coltrane
Blues
* Ry Cooder

African
* Ali Farka Toure
* Fela Kuti

Dub & Bass

Classical

MOVIES:
* British Indie
* Blade Runner
* Fight Club

BOOKS:
* Tom Robbins
* Chuck Palahnuik
* Douglas Adams
* Brian Greene

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 1996 I set up an Internet Awareness Project: " The Virtual Prisoner "

I confined myself to a glass room on public display for 88 days in isolation with an Internet connection as my only link to the outside world.

My story made it into many international print & online newspapers & magazines ...

During my confinement I received 7,000 plus emails from 134 cities and 44 countries ...

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
* Travelling South Africa & Africa - ideas, suggestions, tips
* My experiences in India & South East Asia
* Science philosophy & the stunning Universe we inhabit
* Open Source software & Ubuntu
* South African food
* South African wines ( red is best )

Learn:
* World Culture & Politics
* Life Experiences
* Things that make us feel alive ... and not just existing

Share:
* Conversations
* Cooking
* Philosophies
* Taoism

What I Can Share with Hosts

* Conversations
* Cooking
* Philosophies
* Taoism
* A love of:
- good books
- good music
* Socialising over a few beers or glasses of wine

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, England, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Spain, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, England, South Africa, Viet Nam, Zambia