CURRENT MISSION

I want to meet the world.

ABOUT ME

A woman who likes to meet people, different kind of people.
We are a family of 2; me and my 17 years old son. I like to spend time with the loving people around me; family and friends. Company is more important than the activity.
***!!! This time I travel with my dearest sister Mirjam. Mirjam is also a big couchsurf fan. She used it a couple of times with a friend, and used the profile of the friend !!!***

PHILOSOPHY

Ooohw, such a hard question for me! I'm a bit a sober person, so no interesting answer here!
I think everybody needs to take his own responsibility in taking care of the world and the humans who are living on it. So make a start by taking care of your own social network.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

After 2 far away holidays, I wanted to try another way of traveling. I wanted to go to a country to get a real sense of the country and the people who are living there. So, that made me decide to write me in for Couchsurfing, 8 years ago.

Couchsurfing is a great way to learn about other cultures and how you can share. I am happy to experience this with my son. Racism and discrimination are hot items these days, and I believe that simply spend time with each other, listen to each other instead of judging is a way to discourage racism and discrimination.

We participated two times at couchsurfing, as a guest, till now on. Till now on; i hope i will have some more couchsurf experiences.
***!!! This time I travel with my dearest sister Mirjam. Mirjam is also a big couchsurf fan. She used it a couple of times with a friend, and used the profile of the friend !!!***

We have a couch available. The time we had surfers, we eated dinner with each other and had nice conversations.
We moved to Rotterdam, 4 years ago, a city that is more popular for tourists, and also couchsurfers. The amount of surf requests grew this past 4 years. And unfortanently also the kind of "Hi, I would like to sleep at your place, is that okay?" requests. I noticed some hosts use passwords in their profile, to make sure people did read their profile. What only maintain the game of mistrust for my opinion. Because that is what makes couchsurfing work; trust.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We were hosted 2 times by a family; our first time in Morocco, and the second in Turkey. The thing I loved about this that we were involved in the family life. It was welcoming, it was personal and the whole cultural exchange were I was hoping for came true. I think I had 2 wonderful couchsurf experiences becausse i had truly honest and interested hosts.

We like to participate as a host. Spending time with people who are curious about the Netherlands, and how we do things. Some how it reminds you to apprecheate the cool stuff in your own town, and the bright side of being a citizen of the Netherlands. Also Benjamin would like to spend time with the surfers now he is getting older. He can show the urban places in Rotterdam :)
Are there other family's with couchsurf experience? I would like to contact, and share experiences. And maybe you have good advice of countries to go?

Interests

I like to hang out with friends or brother and sisters, watch movies, listen to music, reading books and practicing yoga.
Benjamin basicly spends all his time at the skate park. He just graduated high school this past June. He starts the education for "Video Design" after the summer break. And further he is an excellent guitar player.

• books
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• surfing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: we listen to all kinds of music. A selection; Tom Odell, Walk off the Earth, Ray Charles, the Police, "she's not there" of "the zombies".

Movies: also much difference; Blood diamand, into the wild, Ray, the butler, the last king of scotland, forrest gump, titanic, the boy in the striped pyama.
Benjamin likes the James Bond movies and other spectucalar action films

Books: Joe Speedboot, the hunger games, the pomegranate

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

On holiday to Costa Rica, we took a long hike to a waterfall. When we arrived at the waterfall, between all the rocks, trees and all the green; it was that beautiful, that it feels like it was fake. Can't explain otherwise.
But, that was only one experience, had much more. The things I remember and apprecheate the most is the atmosphere and the people I adored.

Teach, Learn, Share

I just want to spend time, and will see were it ends. I want to give any activity a chance.
And hosting and surfing will be usefull, to practice our English.

Countries I’ve Visited

Costa Rica, Curaçao, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands