Currently in Munich/Estonia/Dubai.

Humble and approachable. mainly interested in enhancing mind, body and spirit. Balance is key.

Not trying to write a memoir, yet I have a bundle of interests, mainly centered around business and its intricacies/psychology/spirituality/philosophy/health/academics/art/yoga/martial arts - everything that makes one adaptive, as well as open.

Currently, continuing studies within psychology/neuroscience in Maastricht, whilst growing a startup 💡 Whilst being a core member/advisor to health technology or web3 companies.

IG, TG, Linkedin - Kevin Varend

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have this indescribable urge to reach out to people and hear their stories, visions, and aspirations, I firmly believe we weren't born into this world to allow prejudice and regret to pile up, but to embrace cultural diversity and make it a milestone of our era. I've made some pretty amazing friends along the way.

Alongside that, there can be three main reasons for being in this community:

To expand your network of people around the world and create something meaningful.

To exchange cultural insights, stories, valuable time, skills, know-how.

To help people on the basis of selflessness, provided the person has experience with being helped from a selfless lens. This is interesting because as you are being hosted, you want to give back to others🥳

Experience: Being hosted in Asia/Europe/Middle-East/South America. Hosted, met, and helped people from several continents. I'm also part of many international teams and organizations in business or science, where intercultural differences ramp up(or hinder, if there's no awareness) collective or cultural cohesion.

Interests

• arts
• books
• photography
• education
• fitness
• yoga
• meditation
• technology
• chess
• traveling
• investing
• business
• entrepreneurship
• neuroscience
• philosophy
• psychology
• nature
• zen
• health
• mindfulness
• innovation
• cinematography
• startups
• ayurveda
• equality
• self-improvement
• psychotherapy
• transcendental meditation
• conscious living
• advaita vedanta

Music, Movies, and Books

Music - Varies, everything will do, mainly orientated around progressive/psychedelic rock, ambient, deep house, orchestral music, classical for sure, experimental/symphonic music, hip hop down to its core. Some generic music now and then. A minimal techno beat could do the trick 🥳

Movies - There's an array to choose from, to keep it concise, favourite directors are David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Darren Aronofsky. Movies orientated on surrealism, meaningful concepts, spectacular cinematography and multilayered storylines

Books - From contemporary literature to psychology/science/business and so forth, I'd recommend Siddartha for the seekers, Cold Calling Techniques for the sellers, The Power of Habit for the thinkers, Meditations for the Stoics, Atlas Shrugged/The Fountainhead for the anarcho-capitalists, The Four Lenses of Innovation for the, you guessed it, innovators. Daniel Coleman, J. Krishnamurti, Adi Shankara, Sam Harris, Ramana Maharshi, Steven Pinker, Bhante Gunaratana, Ajahn Chah, Charles Duhigg 🙂

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Make the transition from cruelty to compassion, which, deep down, a pretty sum of people never do.

Solo-travelling across India managed to see exceptional nature, people, and practices on this ancient subcontinent. Could write a book about it! Covered over 12 thousand kilometers and 16 states within India, a truly mind-altering experience!

Finished a Vipassana course, which is a ten-day meditation course where you abide by noble silence, hence any form of contact with external stimuli is only limited to meditating 10,5 hours a day. As of now, done it six times🙏

Taking up a digital nomad lifestyle, embracing my surroundings, adapting to them and evolving. Everyone with any skillset, can work from anywhere in the world. Co-managed co-living spaces in Barcelona/Bali.

Spent a night in the Catacombs of Paris(Òui).

Build a portfolio of digital assets to attain financial independence.

Been a co-founder 3 times, mostly in education technology companies.

Gazed at the Milky Way in such depth that it wiped out the desert sand beneath me.

Trekked the Himalayas.

Went into the jungles or Nepal and Sri Lanka without guides, which are full of tigers and other lovely creatures. Met a rhino at 6 AM 😂

Did a 10 day coconut water fast in the jungles of Bali, alone. Detox 101.

Staying with Mooji for a week, Portugal, also India.

Learning Transcendental Meditation from a sage in the Himalayas, alongside studying Vedic science. Also some courses on Ayurveda, Pranayama.

Talked in academic and entrepreneurial setting about neuroscience or positive psychology(Mindvalley, biohackers gatherings, Maastricht University, Amsterdam Blockchain Week, etc.)

Mindfulness teacher training in the jungles of Thailand. Now, with teachers from the US, such as Jack Kornfield/Tara Brach.

Trained under the guidance of the forefather of Vietnamese Zen for a bit.

Teaching mental awareness, meditation, and other modalities within technology start-ups and other fast-paced environments.

Lived in the Middle-East for a year.

Lived in the Amazonian jungle with a Mestizo shaman to learn about master plants, one of them being Ayahuasca.

Travelling 1/6th of the world. And counting 🥳

And more 🤩 Basically, it seems that no matter what your education, conditioning, or personality is like, a person can walk many worlds; meaning, you don't have to neglect one side of the equation, but fully embrace rational thinking, whilst not being enamored by the mind to think only one thing is the truth. That's called spaciousness 🙏

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach - All that you know, don't be cynical and save it for yourself, everyone loves a good story.

Learn - To appreciate, uplift and aspire every person you collide with, it comes a long way.

Share - Defines you and your innermost being, be open-minded.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Healthy food, some good advice, crazy stories from travels, investing/business basics, meditation (favorite for sure!), Yoga (which is not only stretching exercises, most of our actions are Yoga), etc.

Walk, run, bike, movement is key! Let's play a game of chess?

Have a ton of books/courses to share, varying subjects.

Providing the understanding, that you are not your thoughts and there's more than meets the eye, times a hundred 😊

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Spain, Thailand