Hey there, I am John.
A sociable openminded backpacker from Germany having amazing experiences all over the globe. Lived most of my life in and around the lush green forests of northern Germany. Spent a year driving through the magnificent vastness of Australia, lived and worked all over Down Under and explored the rainforests and red wastes of this strange continent. After that, I lived a year in Canada, exploring as many national parks as possible, walking on the frozen Arctic Ocean, and loving the Vancouver city life. Later, I got to live and study in China for half a year. I loved the bustling energy of Shanghai and felt at home among the order, chaos and amazing people there. Currently, I can be found in the Hague where I study and keep on enjoying life until another exciting trip sweeps me away. I hope it came through in this text that I love traveling passionately and want to meet you to be a part of the adventure that is life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I hope to see more of this planet as a Couchsurfer by spending time with locals and getting away from hostels full of people who only come to a new place to party and drink other alcohol than in their home country. I want to be a Couchsurfer to learn more about the places I go, explore a new way to travel, embrace other cultures and share a piece of my own, find new friends, find out more about my hosts home country, cook with hosts, talk about travelling, enjoy a good bottle of wine or a beer with someone nice and just have a enjoyable time with interesting people from all over the world.

Interests

I enjoy traveling the world, reading whatever I can get my hands on as well as sports like kayaking, hiking, cycling, and aikido. Languages are another great passion of mine. Right now I am working hard to get the hang of Mandarin. Furthermore, I am very interested in watching and even creating movies.

• culture
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• partying
• drinking
• comics
• movies
• video games
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• backpacking
• kayaking
• sports
• travel
• cider

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
I am a bit of a cinephile or movie-geek, among my favorites are Pulp Fiction, Old Boy, Star Wars and Léon, but there are countless more
Music:
I love to collect recommendations from every host I visit and will listen to what they prefer, but I got quite a bit of music I can share with my hosts. Among my favorite bands are the Arctic Monkeys, Rise Against, Billy Talent and Brand New
Books: "Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" by Douglas Adams will always be special to me because I am an avid hitchhiker myself and find tales of cosmic adventure relatable.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

An amazing two-month-long road trip through Canada over the Arctic Ocean and to Alaska, sleeping on a self-built bed in a car, loving North America's raw wilderness

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach - I am still a learner myself, but if you are interested I will gladly teach you the fundamentals of Mandarin. I swear that what looks like mysterious indecipherable squiggles becomes a beautiful complex language with a little bit of practice.

Teach - Life is too short to learn German? Not totally true. If you still feel up to the challenge. It would be my pleasure to teach you as much as you like about this odd language.

Learn - If you speak a language that is foreign to me and you have the time to teach me a few things you would do me a great favor.

What I Can Share with Hosts

The finest cuisine from around the world:
I am a passionate chef and baker. I love to cook the most amazing meals with every host or guest if circumstances permit. Be it Chinese, Belgian, Vietnamese, Italian, Thai, French... you name it. It's my goal to prepare at least one great meal for and with every host, I visit.

All the help I can offer:
I am your guest, I will make sure that I am neither a burden nor a parasite to you. I will help with what I can, keep the place clean and most definitely never wear out my welcome.

The funniest and most exciting stories of a far-traveled vagabonder:
I saw so many amazing places, met a whole bunch of awesome people and learned so much about this great planet that I would gladly share with everyone who is interested in it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Netherlands