CURRENT MISSION

Meet more interesting people, and save some cash to do more travelling.

ABOUT ME

All about me, okay.. I'm at the point in my life where I'm looking to experience whatever life has to throw at me because, in the words of Blind Melon, 'all I can say is that my life is pretty plain'.

I grew up down in the south of England, in Essex. After leaving school at 17, I headed up north to stay with family in Lancaster. They moved onto a co-housing project just outside of Lancaster, and I've since spent a lot of time there. A lot of my time was spent in the kitchen learning and helping to cook a wide range of vegetarian and vegan dishes. I've since been called a bit of a hippy, but living among a large group of different people from all different backgrounds was an amazing experience - hearing the stories of their lives and their travels was one of the things that has inspired me to do more travelling in my life. Getting to cook with, and learn from, people who are passionate about food was an added bonus.

After co-housing, I am currently living and working in a Youth Hostel in Yorkshire. It's an amazing place to be, and I'm living and working with two new friends, but it does often feel like.. well, not the most exciting place to be. But it's great fun anyway, and I wouldn't swap it for anything.

I've traveled a little over the last however many years, but am hoping to save up enough to travel a lot more. I'm a fairly laid back person so for now I'm just seeing where life takes me. I'd love to go back to Australia, and to visit parts of Asia, Africa, South America and the US, so eventually I'll need to pick a direction and go. For now though I'm just enjoying what life has to offer.

PHILOSOPHY

Slow down and don't take things too seriously. You only live once, so you might as well enjoy life while you can.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I will be looking for couches to surf in the coming months as I'm around the country more (and hopefully out of the country too).

I'm also open to hosting surfers here at the hostel - either on our couch or in one of our dorm rooms.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None yet, but hopefully this will change.

Interests

I love getting outdoors when I can. Walking, cycling, hiking, climbing, or just chilling out with friends. Fortunate enough to be living in a beautiful place with lots of nice spots by the river and in the hills to just relax (when it's not raining).

I've always had a passion for food - cooking it more than eating it, in a way. While I haven't had the opportunity to cook much in recent months (so am a little rusty), I still love to cook when I get the chance. The one possession I miss here at the hostel is a slow cooker.

When I manage to scrape together some spare time, I'm also studying, since February 2013, through the Open University for a degree in Philosophy and Psychological Studies. It's a pretty new subject to me, but I'm three assignments in and enjoying it so far.

Three things I want to do before I die (but hopefully not immediately before) are bungee-jumping, skydiving and to see the Northern Lights.

• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• vegan
• walking
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• bungee jumping
• skydiving
• rock climbing
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

A lot of older music appeals to me, but I have fairly wide music tastes so, with a few exceptions, I can enjoy most music. Hendrix, Pearl Jam, The Who, Derek & The Dominos, Ram Jam, T.Rex, Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, Manic Street Preachers, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and The Stranglers are a handful of the bands that I listen to a lot.

My interests in movies are quite random. Pulp Fiction, Lock Stock, Dusk to Dawn, The Beach, Into The Wild, Apocalypto, Austin Powers, No Country for Old Men, Psycho, Watchmen, etc. to name a few.

I don't read as much as I should, so cannot list a lot of book interests, but I've always enjoyed historic fiction (anything by Conn Iggulden is worth reading) or mysteries (Sherlock Holmes is always a good read). One of my favourite books ever is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I must read again soon. Unfortunately a lot of my reading these days is textbooks.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A midnight walk across the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. The word breathtaking is overused but standing at the very top of that bridge, looking out with the wind in my face, was properly breathtaking.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm not certain what I can teach, but if you're hosting me I'd be more than happy to help in the kitchen with any meals or cooking as my way of saying thanks.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, France, Germany, Malta

Countries I’ve Lived In

Portugal, United Kingdom