CURRENT MISSION

Travelling around Europe, and soon, Africa

ABOUT ME

(Back in Australia…) I’m a 30 year old systems engineer, which keeps me pretty busy during work hours, but I’m not the type to get to bed early (even when I should). I generally try to keep fit, have fun, and be funny – laughing is the best medicine, after all. I’m interested in, amongst heaps of other things, travelling, photography, technology in general, and love going to the movies.

But… how did I get here? Well, I don’t remember it all as I was quite young at the time…

I may have been born in Western Australia, after which I might have moved to Sydney, Australia’s largest city. I probably then gradually made my way up the East coast, with a few detours down the coast and across to the West coast, living out of the back of a car, camping, living on a farm, living in a genuine full-size tepee, and at a remote, secluded, but very beautiful rainforest hideaway.

Having finished my primary schooling, there’s a chance I moved to Brisbane, in Queensland – a small, clean and friendly city. I might even have lived at a (stunningly beautiful) nudist commune for a year. I could then have made my way even further up the East Coast, living in a remote powerless community, where everything was solar powered, the creek would flash flood providing immense amounts of entertainment, and supplies would be sent in by helicopter – before coming to rest in the most beautiful spot in the world, at the top of Australia.

It’s a rainforest paradise, or an unforgiving and savage jungle, depending on your outlook. It’s either incredibly humid and swarming with more insects (most of which bite) than anywhere else in the world, or astoundingly beautiful – one of the last remaining untouched wildernesses. There are picture-postcard beaches where no one ever goes, with the obligatory coconut palms, tropical fruits, azure water and amazing reef – and then there are crocodiles and man-eating jellyfish. There’s impenetrable jungle, open grassland, clouded mountain ranges, little tropical islands, camels, wild boar, big spiders, and an attitude most people thought died out with the conquering of America’s Wild West. It isn’t what everyone can like, but to me it is as close as it gets to paradise on this hellish planet.

I probably studied at university, where I might have pretended to be a normal person, before joining the workforce in an attempt to fund travel.

I managed to spend three and a half months travelling around India (which was fantastic), but once in the workforce, I found that I could get money… or time… but not both – so after a few years working for the man, I’ve taken the plunge, quit my job, and am finally travelling. I’ve flown into Frankfurt, and my ticket is booked back out of Johannesburg… in-between I’d like to see as much of Europe as I can in the limited time I have, then head to Kenya, probably via Egypt, and make my way overland to South Africa.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I found out about couch surfing from two German flatmates who had been using it for a while, and used it in Australia. They had a great time, so I figured I’d try it too.

Interests

I’ve quit my job in Australia and am currently travelling around Europe and Africa for 3 and a half months, so my interests at the moment pretty much all focus around that – I only have limited time, and I want to see a lot of places, so I’m trying to get a feel for what other countries are like in the limited time I have available to see them. I figure I can always come back and spend more time in one place later :)

• insects
• photography
• technology
• movies
• traveling
• camping
• surfing
• engineering
• medicine
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Many and varied. I am vegetarian, so meat isn’t on the favourites list. Not a fan of horror movies, but watch a lot of everything else. I prefer books that aren’t missing pages.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Botswana, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia