CURRENT MISSION

To establish myself as a sustainability writer and communicator.

ABOUT ME

I am a citizen of the world and a dreamer. I love to think big and imagine all the possibilities we face as we venture sometimes blindly toward an increasingly uncertain future. I'm concerned about the world we are creating for current and future generations, and I believe we can do a lot better. I have made this mission. So I teach university students about sustainability and politics and write a blog focused on these issues. I recently had an article on this topic published on a prominent Australian news site.

I celebrate and encourage virtue, creativity, and critical reasoning as I believe these are vital qualities for a healthy society and environment. I relish the small things—a good conversation with friends, an evening of fine music, the sights and sounds in a new city, or the feeling of awe invoked by looking up to the stars—as these are central to a happy existence. But I also regularly set personal and professional goals and challenges that push me out my comfort zone - it is working toward a vision of the "good life" and the "good citizen" that really gets me up in the morning.

PHILOSOPHY

Moral virtue comes about as a result of habit.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have couchsurfed through Asia, North America and Europe. I am now living in Melbourne, Australia and am connected with the CSing community here. My house informally hosts others on a regular basis.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Each and every couchsurfing experience I have had has so far been great! I find that staying with a local (or expat) gives you so much more of an insight into the world to which you have thrown yourself: Local knowledge, local insight, local food, local friends.

I've couchsurfed with (not in chronological order):

Rob - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Simona - Aix-En-Provence, France
Sabine - Avignon, France
David - Budapest, Hungary
Multiple hosts (friends) - London, England
Anouck and Vincent - Lyon, France
Katrin - Marseille, France
Vanya - Montpellier, France
Nick - Nottingham, England
Multiple hosts - Pecs, Hungary
Jianggan - Singapore, Singapore
Raph - Vienna, Austria
Chris and John - Xi'an, China
Kosei and Yonghee - Seoul, Korea
Dona - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Tay - Toronto, Canada
Holly - Chicago, IL, USA

Interests

I have a broad range of interests, but my passions are in music, cycling, writing, reading, politics, and sustainability. I have completed a Master of Environment and a Graduate Certificate of Sustainability. I often have multiple projects and activities on the go. At the moment, I am part of a regular song-writing challenge, a community choir, an organisation communicating with young people about sustainability, and I write a blog.

• writing
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• politics
• news
• reading
• blogging
• music
• guitar
• cycling

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy most genres of music from Czech folk to Baroque classical, reggae to dubstep, rap to metal. I am a solo musician, writing and performing what might be described as alternative folk (whatever that means).

I enjoy books that make you think and books that make you feel. Non-fiction or fiction, I don't discriminate. I prefer books from which I can learn something about the world and the way it functions.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 2009 I drove with a group of friends from Edinburgh, Scotland to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in a 1-litre Nissan Micra. We survived: 8,700 miles, 7 blown tyres, one car accident, and a terrifying snowstorm later.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you have a guitar, I can play or teach you some of my favourite songs. I'm not a bad cook, either.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malawi, Mongolia, New Zealand, Poland, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom

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