CURRENT MISSION

I am self-producing a documentary and writing a book about my life on the road, as I walk 15,000 from India to London couch-suring my way across the globe.

ABOUT ME

I am a wonderer, a ponderer, an introvert. A lover of humanity and the cross-cultural differentiation between the web, social media and technology. I am a loner. A lone wolf. A compassionate soul. I like to read. I like to write. I like to think and dream at night.

I am going to be walking 15,000km from India to London whilst writing a book and producing a documentary about my life on the road as a couch-surfer.

My name is Michael Lee Johnson. I am 28 years of age and I am from Widnes, Cheshire, in the north-west of England.

Born in Whiston, St Helens, on December 2nd 1984 at 04:35am, and raised in a moderately poor lower-class family in Widnes, Cheshire. I was an only-child, with no brothers and no sisters.

I grew up in a small 2 bedroom semi-detached council house for low income families. We had a dog named ‘Burger’ (he died due to a fetish for car tires), a dog named ‘Taz’ (she died from Cancer) and a duck named ‘George’. I’m not quite sure what happened to George, but I remember walking him on a cat lead once…That was actually pretty weird, now that I’m thinking about it.

Life has never been easy for me, but I won’t complain. My dad was never around that much when I was younger, in fact, very little at all. He was confined to a cell, a prisoner of the law. My mum raised me on her own, and for that I am thankful, we didn’t need him anyway, or maybe I’m just being spiteful?

At school I was bullied, so I didn’t really go that often. I just stayed home and studied, inspired by the web. I hated everyone around me, found it difficult to make friends. I didn’t really fit in that well, just wanted everything to end.

I dropped out of college, bored and demotivated, I got into trouble, rebelled and procrastinated. I’ve had more 9-5′s than I care to recount. I’ve been homeless, troubled and thrown out of cabs.
I have fallen in love, been heart-broken and cheated on (who hasn’t?). I have traveled the world. I have been there, done that. Thought I knew it all, realized I didn’t, got upset a bit (OK, a lot). I have grown up quickly, learnt lessons, gave lessons. Constantly trying to better myself, inspired all the time.

I am a web designer by profession, although a hybrid of all sorts. I love marketing, advertising and conjuring-up ideas, from the radically insane, to the basic and mundane. I have spent 100 hour weeks, just studying and at peace, learning everything I could, to escape for some peace.

For the past decade you could say that my life has been weird, a psychological roller-coaster of self-understanding. I’ve become a student of cyberspace, a scholar of thought, constantly on a quest, a perpetual journey without rest.

Who I am, I am still not quite sure. I know my name is Michael Lee Johnson, but that is all I really know… Or so I’m told.

On Friday September 26th 2013 at 2:15pm, I will be boarding a flight from London to India with the intention of never returning back to the United Kingdom by anything else other than by foot.

Upon arrival in India and after a good nights sleep, I will then begin my journey home (on my own and wlakign for over 3 years), whilst writing a book and self-producing a documented drama about my life on the road.

There are multiple deserts and mountains for me to cross over and walk around. Plenty of people that speak languages I don’t understand (bearing in mind I only speak English and a few other non relevent langauges). Some of the areas get insanely-hot in the summer (I am fair-skinned and will probably boil and get 2nd degree burns), and so stupidly-cold (we’re talking like -40o bollocks-freezing cold here). However, after doing more research on this than is possible to write or comprehend, I think/know it will all be possible.

My entire journey will be tracked via GPS and plotted on to Google maps in real-time. You will be able to see where I am at any given moment in time. Through the use of 3G networks, multiple wireless HD camera’s and a lightweight laptop, I hope to be able to live stream some of my journey, as well as recording HD-quality videos and taking photographs every step of the way.

For those of you that use Google+, I will also be doing Live Google+ hangouts in every village and city across my journey, whilst streaming my life over at my website, twitter account and facebook.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is not just about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself and becoming the person you want to be, not the person you have to be. I found myself a long-time ago and now I am just living my life as it is meant to be lived. - Happy and alive.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am going to be couch-surfing my way across the world whilst documenting my entire trip. - Everyone that hosts me will get featured in my book, on my website and on my video.

Anything I can do to help the CS community I am willing to do. Just ask. I am new here and not sure what to write if I am honest.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I am new to the CouchSurfing community and this is going to be my first CouchSurfing experience - So I am doing it in style!

Interests

Web Design. App Development. Advertising. Branding. Public Relations. Graphic Design. Video Production. Marketing. Fishing. Hiking. Walking. Trekking. Camping. Travel. Adventure. Reading. The Internet. Social Media. Geeky Things. Philosophy. Psychology. Business. Life. Travel. People. Friends. Humanity.

• cats
• dogs
• writing
• books
• design
• graphic design
• documentaries
• walking
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• business
• cartography
• communications
• languages
• law
• psychology
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

The list is never-ending, drop me a message to enquire. :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I haven't done anything truly, wonderfully and breathtakingly maginificantly awesome as of yet, I have been stuck behind a computer, being a desk jockey for quite a while now - preperaing my escape from my bedroom to the couches of the east.

Teach, Learn, Share

Bring your dreams to life and let the whole world dream with you. Be happy. Help others and help humanity. Travel and see the world. Live.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Greece, United Kingdom