Hi :)

I'm Hans, a positive minded Belgian guy, born and raised in the city of Ghent.

Every time I went backpacking, I gradually felt that I wanted to travel more authentically by genuinely connecting with places in an immersive way. While seeing amazing new things, places and doing activities is great, only going from spot to stop on a surface level became somewhat less meaningful. Personal growth became an important part of traveling for me.

There's a lot you're capable of doing and everyone has so many hidden talents!

After helping out a lot with renovating our Yoga and meditation centre in Ghent, I got very interested in learning craft skills. It gives a great feeling to know how to get things done with my hands. This could be carpentry/furniture making, DIY things, building with natural materials, farm work, repairing stuff, masonry, tiling, etc.. I'm very eager to learn on many fields.

With being a little more drawn towards further learning about woodwork and building in general, homesteading, ecofarming, (permaculture) landscape design and seriously improving my cooking/baking skills.

When profiles of homesteaders pass by, it really sparks a desire in me to have the skills to plan, build and maintain a place like that myself.
Back home I lived at a friend's place where we created a beautiful environment for all kinds of conscious events, workshops and gatherings that take place.

A deeper search for truth and higher awareness also led me to the Yoga philosophy, meditation and Buddhism. Liking these paths the most because of the rather simple and less religious/dogmatic ways of practice. But I've always enjoyed knowing or reading about different spiritual paths.
Living a Yogic way of life, I keep to a daily meditation/Yoga practice and live

Plus, I'm a serious foodie as well 😁
Always keen to include some cooking and (healthy) baking a part of my travels. It's no burden for me to play around in the kitchen.. And certainly not when I can learn new things! Feel absolutely free to ask me!

I'm really passionate about food in general. And not just the cooking and eating part, but also to inform myself about nutrition and how food affects you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

UPDATE 2024:

I've been traveling for over a year and the more I use volunteering platforms and CS'ing the more I want to travel in this way!

Seeing places and going about can definitely be wonderful, but the most fulfilling, enriching and memorable times where those experiences shared when meeting people 💙

Interests

I'm someone who always likes to read, research, watch docu's or listen to podcasts about my interests.

Permaculture, nutrition and cooking, playing tennis or any occasional sport try-out, exercising (yoga, stretching), spirituality conscious events, learning handy skills

In my hometown, I enjoyed volunteering as a buddy to help refugees and newcomers integrate in our society. Wishing to learn more about the different organisations and ways to make a contribution.

On a creative level: I was a drummer years ago and really should get back behind my kit to practice and play!
If you're a musician, pull my sleeve!
It would be awesome to learn how to shoot and edit decent photos and videos as well. Or using programs like sketch-up for designing furniture and woodwork.

• culture
• yoga
• meditation
• crafts
• gardening
• traveling
• hiking
• sports
• history
• nature
• buddhism
• bike riding
• astrology
• nutrition
• cooking and eating

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC:

Authentic music. With artistry.
That moves me, and that could be many many types.
But in general: real ethnic, alternative/Indie, New wave, Baroque, folk, ecstatic dance music, reggea, tribal,

MOVIES:

Non-hollywood movies, Arthouse, Anything like Stanley Kubrick, Almodovar, Southern european cinema, and.. I'm always excited for a GOOD documentary!

BOOKS:

When I read it's mostly informatively about my interests and deepening my knowledge on those topics.
Spirituality - nutrition - Astrology -

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

You don't have to do Amazing things.
You already Are.

Slowly learned the art of Loving myself.

Which is More important than you might think..

Teach, Learn, Share

TEACH

Practicing English, playing tennis if you want, share recipes,
and basically everything I can share about.

LEARN

Pretty much everything that feels like learning about. To me talking with people is always enriching.

You don't have to be special or supertalented in something. Just be You.
That's more than enough :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Good food, talks, stories/travel tips
And well.. all that I have in me ☺️

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium