CURRENT MISSION

Travel the world on my bicycle, learning about and experiencing new cultures, making connections with interesting and inspiring people, teaching/playing with kids, and making sweet music for/with everyone I meet on the way.

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Simon - let's meet! ^^

I'm a positive, laid-back guy who loves laughing and living. I'm ecclectic, passionate about the things I love, adventurous and inquisitive, a little bit confident and a little bit cheeky. My brain's not bad, I'm told its good...but I much prefer to always follow my heart.

I'm into making music, photography, food and cooking, living abroad, learning languages, Zen, adding strings to my bow, playing/working with kids, and travelling in ways that push my comfort zone and make me feel morrrrre. I believe life is too short to waste time being boring or sad. Most of all, I like to maintian a wide-eyed, childlike wonder at the world at all times. I live in ways designed to keep myself inspired and enthralled by life...and in turn I hope to pass that inspiration on to those around me.

I've studied history at Cambridge University, spent four years working as a chef around England, 3 years playing with kids (teaching English) in South Korea and 6 months cycling solo through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Korea. I feel like I'm only just beginning. Right now I'm based on idyllic Jeju island. In Summer 2015 I'm planning another cycling trip, this time through Europe - from Istanbul (Turkey) to London (England). I'd love to meet some interesting/smiley/beautiful/stimulating characters and jokers to share my journey with.

PHILOSOPHY

천상천하 유아독존

the stronger you become, the gentler you will be

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams." - Gabriel García Márquez

"Twenty Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." - Mark Twain

"He who binds to himself a joy doth the winged life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in Eternity's sunrise." - William Blake

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!" - Kerrouak

"Be water my friend." - Bruce Lee

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In any way you want/I can :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In winter 2012/2013 I surfed my way through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos riding 6500km on my bicycle. It helped to make an amazing trip even more special. Keen to surf it up and make some more connections as I roll through Europe in summer 2015.

Interests

TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE - I love learning new languages and experiencing different cultures and ways of living. Travel makes me feel a wonder and amazement at the world. The more alien my environment, the more stimulation I feel ... and the more alive I feel :)

MUSIC - I play fiddle, all styles from classical to blues, jazz and gypsy ... and where I go, my instrument always comes with! I love jamming, improvising and making sweet music together with anyone and everyone I meet.

PHOTOGRAPHY - Makes me look at the world closely, in all its detail, and from different angles...and appreciate the beauty of the visual every single day. Thinking you need a good camera to take good pictures is like saying you need a good stove to cook good food...no way man! It's all about how you see the people, things and world around you.

BICYCLE TOURING - Cycled from England to Paris, the length of the Korean south and west coasts, and 6500km through SE Asia. There are many ways to travel, but on the saddle you see and feel everything.

COOKING - I was a chef in London and around England for four years before I became a teacher and Im really passionate about delicious lip-smacking food and tasting everything.

KIDS - I teach kids, all ages, from kindergarden to high school, and it brings a massive amount of joy and happiness to my life. Their energy, positivity, vitality, innocence and inquisitiveness rubs off on me everyday (maybe the innocence less so, kk). It keeps me always feeling young and inspired by the world. However I feel when I go to teach my children, by the time I'm finished I feel alive...and usually leave with a big smile on my face. I believe I learn as much from them as they learn from me. I plan to continue teaching as I travel around the world in the future.

ALSO - art, cinema, zen meditation, nature, camping, history, literature, making things...

• arts
• books
• literature
• photography
• beauty
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• meditation
• off-roading
• movies
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• violin
• blues
• cycling
• camping
• teaching
• history
• languages
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC - jazz, jazz manouche, blues, new orleans sounds, reggae, underground and head-nod hip hop, electro-swing, world music, afrobeat, afro-cuban, african, flamenco, latin, bluegrass, old skool soul, gypsy music, funk, folk, rock, baroque, classical...etc

FILMS - Kubrick, Herzog, Emir Kusturica, Coen Brothers, French New Wave, Jarmusch, Hitchcock, Terry Gilliam, Wim Wenders, Woody Allen, Akira Kurosawa, Takeshi Kitano, Park Chan-wook, Mim Ki Duk, Federico Fellini, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Tony Gatlif, Charlie Kaufman, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, B Movies, Horror Movies, 80s flicks, Oldies, Film noir, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Powell and Pressburger, Spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone, Blaxploitation, old skool kung-fu movies, anime and animation, Peter Sellers, Robert Downey Junior, Burt Retnolds, Documentaries, anything different...

BOOKS - Bukowski, Hemmingway, Anthony Buirgess, Chuck Palahniuk, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ginsberg, Shakespeare, Dickens, Aravind Adiga, Kerouac, Burroughs, JG Ballard, Jack London, Orwell, Italo Cavino, Jonathan Safran Foer, Anthony Bourdain, Isaiah Berlin, Neitzsche, Larkin, Graham Greene...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycled for 5 months, 7000km, solo from Hanoi to Chang Mai - off-road over towering mountain ranges, winding through dense tropical jungle, sleeping on isolated beaches and in rural temples, making friends in tribal villages, rolling through bustling cities and sharing music, laughter and love on the way.

Teach, Learn, Share

Violin skills, music, cooking, traditional Korean book-making, photography, travelling stories, cycling enthusiasm, English and Korean language, artisitic and cinematic and musical tastes and stuff, life experiences, jokes, smiles.

I'd especially love to find local people to stay with wherever I roam, who can teach me a little about the local way of life, customs and traditions ... in return, I have my music, smiles, enthiusiasm and respect :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Israel, South Korea, United Kingdom