CURRENT MISSION

Dispense happiness and kindness (and plenty of laughter) in copious heaps to all who cross my path. Look out! :)

ABOUT ME

I am a 27 year old Canadian just trying to do my part - big or small - for the world. I like to think that I am open, culturally sensitive, fun, outgoing, and thoughtful.

Work
I've had a lot of different jobs in my brief stay on this earth. I've been a lifeguard (that was cool), a movie-theater attendent (that sucked, except for the free movies ;), a door-to-door salesman (that helped make me become comfortable talking to just about anyone), a research assistant (that was alright, but tiedious at times), a camp counsellor (I love kids, especially the glimpses they provide into the way THEY see the world), a model (that was over-rated), a forest fire fighter for 6 years, and a project manager for 2 years with a very large investment management firm (suits and cubicals and high-powered meetings - oh my!)
After all that dabbling, I have now decided to give teaching a try. So I'm off to Teacher's College in February and very much looking forward to it.

A good chuck of my "spare time" is also spent running an NGO I co-founded in early 2008 called The Nepali Children's Education Project (NCEP). Of course I'm biased, but I think we're doing really good work. Check us out:

www.nceponline.org

I would love to do this full time but I don't think that is feasible at this stage in our operations.

I also am committed to building my own home. I plan to model it after the "earthship" design, by Michael Reynolds. It is simply the most intuitively intelligent design I have yet to see for a home.

Travel
I was fortunate to make enough fighting fires 4 months of the year to cover my travel expenses for the other 8 months. This permitted an amazing globe hopping spree that took me to across Canada, then into the UK, Nepal, India, Guatemala, Belize, the United Arab Emirates, and America. I've since done two short trips to Cuba.
I will be leading an NCEP-related trip to Nepal in December 2010 followed by a personal move to either Australia or NZ this February for a year. I can't wait!

Interests
As for my long-term interests, I have no specific ideas, but I know that whatever I do, it has to contribute in some way to reversing the current global trend toward ecological destruction and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

I think meditation, yoga, building my own eco house, growing my own food, making music, and running NGO's would be a good start.

PHILOSOPHY

Love life - the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Just love every minute of it, because every second counts.

Try to fill your life with happiness and kindness and then top it off with a large helping of generosity, because the more you give and help everyone around you, the more you'll get out of it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I Surf
I Host
And most importantly,
I spread the good word of CS to all the travelers I meet

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Had some good surfs in Canada and Nepal and many positive hosting experiences now too. After 2 years of straight hosting I'm looking forward to being back on the road, surfing couches and making friends.

Interests

My most recent interest is in eco-architecture. That is, designing buildings that not only fit into their environment (rather than dominate it), but also use recyclable/biodegradable products and produce more energy than they use. If you haven't heard of earthships yet, check them out on youtube (or rent garbagewarriors)

I love the outdoors - whether that's studying the environment, canoe camping, diving to the depths of the oceans, or just going for a hike. I am very active and love most sports, especially rockclimbing and windsurfing. I've also recently gotten into Meditating (Vipassana meditation to be exact, well, a modified-to-suit-me version of it)

I am interested in the state of the world - how it got to where it is today and what I can do to make it better for my children (when I have them, that is)

• writing
• theater
• architecture
• design
• education
• environment
• dining
• yoga
• running
• modeling
• meditation
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• canoeing
• windsurfing
• camping
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sports
• hockey
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies are good, but real life experiences are better. Of course, I still love a good flick and I'm open to and enjoy almost all genres (except most blockbusters)

I am open to all sorts of music, truly. I like classical, jazz, rock, alternative, folk, hip hop/rap, pop, and yes, even some country.

After seventeen years of continuous school, academic books and I are taking a little time apart. I am glad that I have not lost my appreciation for a good novel though. Some of my recent reads that I would recommend are "a fine balance" by Rohinton Mistry and "the good life" by Scott and Helen Nearing. Alan Watts "the book" is awesome and eye opening, and if you ever want to understand the world of quantum physics (which I suggest you do, because it actually crosses with philosophy and ethics in ways I could have never imagined), the absolutely best book I've found is Gary Zukav's "the dancing wu li Masters". Check it out for sure.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I will list 3 things:

1. The most beautiful/amazing place/thing I've seen: Dived in the Andaman Islands and entered an amazing underwater world that just can't be described.

2. The scariest thing I've done/seen:
A 150-foot wall of flame that was running parallel to me and my crew suddenly changed direction, heading straight for us. Fortunately there was a helicopter overhead which evacuated us immediately. It was a pretty amazing near-death experience that I will never forgot. I got a lot of it on video too!

3. The hardest thing I've done:
A 17-hour per day, 10 day Vipassana meditation course. No talking, no reading, no writing, no eye contact, lots of sitting and no moving. But it was great - I really learned a lot about myself.

Teach, Learn, Share

In terms of academic things I could teach:
-I can write papers or reports very well in English, so if you need an editor or just have a quick question, give me a shout
-Also, I have a fairly sound grounding in European economic history, if anyone is interested in such arcane facts.
- Finally, I'd be willing to talk with anyone about philosophy or the environment, since I have an academic background in these as well

Not sure if this is supposed to cover physical skills, but just in case:
- I have played ice hockey all my life and taught skating and hockey skills for the past couple of years, so if you ever run into me somewhere cold and want a lesson or two (or somewhere warm and have roller blades), I'd be happy to help.
-and of course, if you ever want to know about fire, just ask (I have lots to share and many cool stories to go with it)

As for learning, I would love to meet up with some experienced windsurfers and/or rockclimbers (or any other outdoor enthousiasts for that matter) and pick their brains for tips on how I can improve in these areas. So if you are that person, please write me (if you are an expert windsurfer, i'll even pay you! I am so hyped about hitting the waves and learning to do flips!!)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Canada, Guatemala, India, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada

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