Brand new to couch surfing!

I'm one of the odd ones out to have chosen a somewhat alternative lifestyle in comparison with the larger Western ideal (as in not the usual get a job, make money, get married, have kids, settle down). Instead I chose to follow freedom and my passion, which is taking photographs of people and places, different cultures and countries that I travel or live in. I have my parents to thank for that traveling bug, we regularly road tripped in South Africa and moved around a lot when I was a kid. I had a privileged upbringing but at the same time, from a young age I was also exposed to a very diverse way of living, witnessing life in the townships (ghettos) of my Rainbow country, South Africa.

I just kept on being a gypsy as I got older, rarely living in one place for longer than 3 for years before I'm ready to let go of everything to pursue another new adventure! I grew up in a very small town and gradually moved closer to the big city life in my young adulthood. I've lived in The Netherlands and London. Lived in the beautiful City of Cape Town on and off for about 10 years before heading to the completely rural Transkei, after that, lived on an organic farm in Stellenbosch for 2 years, sharing the space with a beautiful community of circus, flow arts and eco friends (and my second experience living in a caravan). From there I moved to Vietnam in 2019.

I've mostly been in South East Asia since then, teaching English online and taking pictures . I love spending time relaxing and reflecting on everything I've seen and heard and wonder how it all fits together. I'm not a great philosopher but I believe in the African proverb of 'Ubuntu' (I am because we are). More simply put: We are one.

I've been a passionate photographer since University days and it's a big driving part in my travels. I'm slowly working on designing bigger Photo books.

I am pretty chilled out I think. Definitely a hermit, introvert and empath. I need to take breaks to recover from overwhelming situations. Although at times I find myself turning inside out and could be mistaken for an extrovert by those who don't know better.

I also need community and deep friendships are the biggest and most valuable treasures in my life. Few things in the world bring me as much joy as having my dearest friends meet each other and become friends as well. I love laughing and people who make me laugh.

Did I mention I love dancing? Well, I do. It's one of my favorite things in this world. I love playing with ribbon poi too. On my happiest days, my biggest problem would be that I don't have enough hands to hold my poi and my camera and give my friends hugs all at the same time. That actually happens more often than you'd imagine. Well, maybe because my birthday is on New Years day, so if I'm lucky I would be barefoot dancing in the mud and under the trees, at a beautiful nature Psy trance festival with my favorite friends all close by. Heaven.... :))

I love animals. I am both a cat and dog person. Plants are my pets nowadays as I move around too much to keep a pet. I love nature. My favorite colors are green and turquoise (green as in leaves and turquoise as in the beautiful color of a fresh ocean. I've been lucky to live near beaches for some years of my life and have fond memories of the bushveld as well. I deeply care about the well-being of our earth and preserving our natural resources such as water and forests and animal life. I'm not vegetarian but I try to keep a healthy balance.

I can appreciate a bustling city as well as the peaceful countryside. My online teaching job is pretty great as it allows me flexibility of hours and I get to have amazing conversations and build friendships with wonderful humans from across the globe. At this time, I've met and spoken to close to 2 000 students from different countries! I am also immensely intrigued and drawn to the lives of Ethnic minority people.

I am always on a journey of self discovery and attempting to overcome some of my own ignorance of so many aspects of being human. I'm truly excited about the next big adventure and what might unravel... India!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I recently made a new friend who has challenged me to let go of some of my own limiting fears. For the first time in my life I hitch-hiked (together with her) across Cambodia and it taught me a lot of things I already knew but perhaps struggled to put into practice. About having faith and trust in the journey and living close to the earth itself, which means connecting with the local people on your travels on a deeper level than merely observing from a distance. This allows one to have much more meaningful experiences to learn and share with the 'real' people of a country. I have an idea that couch surfing is another way to delve deeper into this sort of mentality. Trusting the process and trusting kind strangers, who are really only friends you haven't met yet. Since I often travel alone and sometimes find it hard to connect on my journeys, I may make lots more new friends in this way. I'm looking forward to having a more authentic travel experience and also discover what I may have to offer others.

Interests

• writing
• design
• photography
• dancing
• coffee
• meditation
• traveling
• electronic music
• dance music
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• anthropology
• archeology
• psychology
• beaches
• art
• food
• cultures
• forests
• massage
• spirituality
• quantum physics
• poi
• permaculture
• street food
• self-development
• healthy lifestyle
• roadtrip
• journaling
• natural building
• caravaning
• psytrance
• massage exchange
• kombucha
• poi spinning
• street photography
• reflection
• flow arts
• photography,
• architecure
• culture sharing
• history and culture
• ethnicity

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: All movies by Wes Anderson (The Fantastic mister Fox, The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tenebaums, The Darjeeling Lmited).

Books: The Pillars of the Earth, Shantaram, The poisonwood bible, Letting go, the pathway to surrender, A God of small things - Arundathi Roy, Tiger's child, Kafka on the shore, The Celestine phrophecy, Journey of Souls, On photography -Susan Sontag, A fine balance - Rohinton Mistry, To kill a mocking bird, The Alchemist and other Paulo Coehlo, A brave new world, Animal farm, the Great Gatsby, The wind-up bird chronicle, Norwegian wood, IQ84 - Haruki Murakami, The power of the subconscious mind, The house of the Spirits, Long walk to freedom, A river's tale - a journey down the Mekong

Music: Electronic music, dance and lounge chill music (Ambient, Psy chill, etc. Javid, Milo Hafliger) music like Jose Gonzalez, William Fitszimmons, Band of Horses, The Shins, PJ Harvey, Bon Iver, Edward Sharpe, The Cranberries, Sinead O Connor, Arcade Fire, Basia Buliat, Bjork, Tori Amos, The Cardigans, Feist, Frau Frau, Johnny Cleg, Moloko, Santogold, Sufjan Stevens... too many more to mention.... + Hours and hours of Soundcloud explorations :))

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Left Western living for 2 and a half years to live in my little Jurgens caravan, next to a river, in the rural South Africa Transkei (Wild Coast). Taught English and basic literacy to the local kids from my camping tent, acquired a small piece of land from the community, spent a year to build a Reading hut for the kids (a rondavel - round hut) with mud bricks, thatched grass roof, all natural products). Well, my local friends did most of the work! In my free time I roamed the green hills, visiting my amaXhosa neighbors, learning the language and culture and taking many pictures, of which I later started selling postcards, had an exhibition and created a little postcard book entitled "Madiba's People". Best time of my life thus far.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach English (been working as English teacher since 2010, mostly online). I can also teach poi (ribbon poi - flow arts) and of course if you're interested in photography, I would love to teach you some technical aspects ot it! . I would love to learn more about your culture, ways, your life growing up where you did, how you perceive the world, lessons you've learnt, the meaning of love, life from your point of view.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Time to hang out if that's what you like, share stories and experiences, I can show you pictures from my travels, - I can make some simple dishes from my basic repertoire, a lentil stew, salads/ roast vegetables / stir fry veggies or cinnamon sugar pancakes (South African style) for the sweet tooth

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Cambodia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Philippines, Scotland, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cambodia, England, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, Viet Nam