I believe we should all take care of ourselves more, so I'm striving to be the change I want to see. I pay attention to what I eat and I try to exercise and meditate daily, both indoors and in nature. I've been living together with my fiancé Anna in Perugia since 2020 and I believe it's never too late to be what you might've been, so after my career as a Magic Judge I'm back in Med School and writing about my travels, and I pay the bills by managing IT Projects for the UN.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

All in all, I have a great faith in humanity. When I tell some of my crazy travel stories, my friends usually point out how lucky I have been to meet this or that person in a dire situation to get me out of trouble. It is not luck: good people are actually the majority, but we don't realize it both because media focuses on bad people, and our brains are three times more likely to remember bad things than good things.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/your-money/why-people-remember-negative-events-more-than-positive-ones.html

Once we acknowledge this, it becomes obvious that it is in our interest to be part of an economy based on giving, and feel no awkwardness in receiving help or hospitality from a stranger today: as long as we have the mindset of making a positive impact on another fellow human being tomorrow, we contribute to the creation of a virtuous cycle.

Interests

• writing
• cooking
• meditation
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• nature
• trekking
• storytelling
• relaxing
• national parks
• museums
• playing piano
• magic the gathering
• drumming

Music, Movies, and Books

I've just finished "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, and before that Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close, masterpieces especially in the way they write. I have a shelf in my library where I put books I plan on reading a second time, and there are very few there, among them a collection of Romanian Poets, and Dark Matters trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

I like historical books and movies. I'm currently reading an university manual called "Traditions and Encounters" that analyzes globalization... since prehistoric times! So like Ancient China trade with the Roman Empire, or what was happening in Central America while African Empires were developping, super interesting.

Movies I watch go also in the same direction, recent ones I liked were Viceroy's Palace (India - Pakistan Partion), A United Kingdom (Botswana independence), Spotlight (Pedophilia among priests), The Post (Vietnam War lies). I have yet to watch a bad Tom Hanks movie.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy an entertaining and loud blockbuster. I've watched all the Marvel movies so far, La La Land got me singing for weeks, Arrival interested me also because of linguistics.

Music is even more varied, since I listen to stuff based on my mood. Recent hits are Childish Gambino, Sia and Bring me the Horizon, regular go-to's are Guetta, Beatles, and Italian politically-involved rapper Caparezza. Also tons of metal and italian singer-songwriters in my repertoire, In This Moment, Nightwish and Lucio Battisti for example.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Followed the Silk Road only by land, and waiting a reply from my editor to publish it as my second book.
My first book has won a literary prize in Italy and got published https://www.le-impronte.com/A-Z/c/quetzal/p/la-sua-essenza-era-musica1
It's about an adventure I had on couchsurfing hosted by https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/woutervandijk89

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can give you a glimpse about the awesomeness of the Chinese, English, French, Italian, or Romanian languages.

I read a lot of self-help books - that stuff makes a lot of people feel miserable and always not good enough, but with the right approach some organizational methods and takeaways can be great for anybody, at any point in life.

Most people I know expect meditation to be different than what it actually is - harder, longer, useless, not scientific etc. Let's talk about it!

If you have drums and piano around, I'd love to play. And if you have a kitchen, French, Italian or Romanian recipes are waiting to be cooked :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Italy, Romania