CURRENT MISSION

be the peace I am searching for

ABOUT ME

What´s in a name... The one my parents gave me, is Marie-Line, pronounced like ´Marilyn´ but written differently.

I love feeling alive by doing lots of things, taking random classes (from dog training to chocolate making) and meeting people. But I like as much to just hang and do nothing. The last 8 years I have been living quite a nomadic life, on the way meeting my Canadian husband Shane and now we are happy to settle in Edinbugh, Scotland, excited to see more of Eastern Europe in holidays and meet many other traveling souls.

Food is one of the biggest blessings in life for me, except for onions, they wouldn't be existent in my perfect world. I love to try new food everywhere I go.

I enjoy learning from the people I meet, like you. :)

PHILOSOPHY

I traveled to many places and met amazing people. There is no right or wrong way to do things.. You're your own worst critique, be nice to yourself, and take time to listen to who you are and what your path is without everything around it defining it for you. It doesn't matter, just dance, just jump, just scream, just be whoever you want to be and create.

There's no road to happiness, happiness is the road

Don't dream your life
Live your dream.

You must be the change, you wish to see in the world

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter
and those who matter don't mind.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but about learning how to dance in the rain.

Don´t cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

Traveling is looking at yourself on a different background...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

CouchSurfing has been a big part of my lifestyle the last years, my biggest passion in life is to bring people together.

Further I tremendously enjoy participating in the many CS events wherever I am or travel to, and I very much enjoy organizing meetups and activities where ever I pass by.

If you have any questions or need advise about couchsurfing, please message me and I'll be there to help you out. This is a great and open community, with tons of options to fill your life with social activities, traveling and really getting to know the place you're at and the people, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I know you'll all agree on this but still... to me (and you probably (: ) it is amazing to really sleep in someones home, wherever that may be in the world, it feels like so much more than traveling, like 'really' being there for a while, not as a real tourist but someone experiencing it all.
I also love joining as many CS activities as I can and meeting people that way. I like showing you around wherever I am living at the time.

Surfed a ton of times all over USA, Europe, South America and Australia with great people... . I first kept a list, then deleted it, but then regretted it as it's a fun way to remember my surfing adventures for myself, so here it is back :) I will DEFINITELY need to pay a lot back in couchsurfkarma because I´ve couchsurfed a LOT more than hosted, but whenever I have my own place my door is wide open!

Surfed With:
Peter, Santa Cruz CA, USA
Chris, Boston, MA, USA
Awesome Allyson, Orinda CA, USA
Ray, Homestead FL, USA
Jon, Key West, USA
John, Miami, USA
Justin, Buffalo NY, USA
John and Mark, Rockville, USA
Mike, Boston, USA
Philip, Boston, USA
Andres, New York, NY, USA
Eli, Boston, USA
Billy, Chicago, USA
Praveen, Chicago, USA
Miri, Berkeley, USA
Marcy & Davey Kay, Austin, USA
George, NJ, USA
Amit, Dileep and Frank, Jersey City, USA
Seth, New York, USA
Alejandro, Brooklyn NY, USA
Allyson, Greenwich CT, USA
Mabel, Queens, USA
Brandy, Brooklyn NY, USA
Sachin, Long Island, USA
Bastien, New York, USA
Sarah, New York, USA
Els, Hasselt, Belgium
Pieterjan & Erlinde, Gent, Belgium
George, Brussels, Belgium
Philipp, Metz, France
Marieke, Gent, Belgium
Martin, Maastricht, Netherlands
Kevin, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Bernard, Bruges, Belgium
Kyle and Maren, Cologne, Germany
Jonathan, Aachen, Germany
Bastien and Melanie, Paris, France
Bart, Antwerp, Belgium
Joke, Ghent, Belgium
Clara, Liege, Belgium
Manuel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Ignacio in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Rose May in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Clemence in Lille, France
Tessa in Beerse, Belgium
Daniel in Vienna, Austria
Olivier in Lille, France
Lauren in Berkeley, USA
Lazer in Joshua Tree, USA
Rosy in Lima, Peru
Ricardo in Ica, Peru
Lizandro in Puno, Peru
Lizzie in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Javier in Tarija, Bolivia
Romy in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Leticia in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Eduardo in Brasilia, Brazil
Claudiomar in Brasilia, Brazil
Mayara in Pirenopolis, Brazil
Almir in Recife, Brazil
Juliana in Maceio, Brazil
Monique in Aracaju, Brazil
Renato in Salvador, Brazil
Bernardo in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Eduardo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Victor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Paulo in Curitiba, Brazil
Tatiana in Blumenau, Brazil
Trevor in Florianopolis, Brazil
Simone in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Alejandra in Montevideo, Uruguay
Ezequiel in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Silchu in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nicolas in Cordoba, Argentina
Ivan in Huaraz, Peru
Maria Eugenia in Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Sergio in Medellin, Colombia
Wayne in Medellin, Colombia
Maribel in Bogota, Colombia
Sara in New Orleans, USA
Abott in Lake Tahoe, USA
Delia in Hawaii, USA
Bob in Hawaii, USA
Pam and Shane in Sydney, Australia
Thomasso in Sydney, Australia
Tim in Brisbane, Australia
Wayne and Margot in Rockhampton, Australia
John in Airlie Beach, Australia
Steve in Cairns, Australia
Gernot in Cooktown, Australia
Genie in Townsville, Australia
Leia in Melbourne, Australia
jFred in Melbourne, Australia
Stefan in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
River and Willow in Golden Valley, Tasmania, Australia
Clint in Branxholm, Tasmania, Australia
Mike in Coles Bay, Tasmania, Australia
David in Orford, Tasmania, Australia
Annie in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Patrick in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Stina and Lovell in Cattai, Australia
Stacey in Newcastle, Australia
Chris in Port Macquarie, Australia
Sybil and Jason in Port Macquarie, Australia
Shane in Coffs Harbour, Australia
Adam in Gold Coast, Australia
Martin in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
....
Hosted:
In California:
Marieke from Belgium
Nadia from the Netherlands
In New York:
Allyson from USA
Lauren from USA
Marieke from Belgium
In Belgium:
Viktor from Hungary and Kendra from USA
Allyson from USA
Shruti, Lisa and Jessica from USA
Jade from Canada
Dee from Canada
Nelly from Antwerp
In Cusco, Peru:
Dileep, Frank, Chris
and a whole bunch of others from New York
In Sucre, Bolivia:
Maria from Equador
In Airlie Beach, Australia:
Camille and Melissa from France
Barbara and Isabella from Austria
Maxime from Canada
Lovell from Sydney and Stina from Sweden
Mel from Berlin, Germany
Max and Larissa from Germany
Sheepi from Hongkong
Kathrin from Germany
Ursula from Germany
-- and had the honor to live in the house of John, who hosts so much so I got the pleasure of 'co-hosting' tons of people thanks to him :)
-- stopped updating this in 2012 and lost the count now.

If you leave a reference, please think about the significance of it. The referencing system is an important safety check, so please only leave a reference when you feel like you know the person well and have something to say about him or her. Please don't leave references like 'she seems nice' after meeting me for 5 minutes... I understand that if you are new you want to 'build up' your profile, but if you message me I will leave you a one-sided beginners reference if you want to get you started. Please also don't ask to get vouched for, I will vouch for you when I feel like it's appropriate. If you ask, I will most likely change my mind towards not doing it. :)

Interests

I intensely love the entire big ball under my feet

Traveling and exploring makes me feel alive.

I love rose quartz, trees, rats, wolves, dogs and ukuleles a lot.
And I really love doing yoga and running (should pick this up again), hanging out with the people I love and meeting new people, and most of all connecting them together, I love animals and nature, and sitting at places on my own, preferably with my back against a tree.

• animals
• dogs
• photography
• perfumes
• dancing
• dining
• chocolate
• yoga
• running
• traveling
• socializing
• homesteading
• surfing
• business
• volunteering
• beaches

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

having a bunch of CS networking, John Butler Trio, a fire in india, thanksgiving, tarot cards, and raspberries all work together for me to meet my dear husband on the other side of the world in Tasmania.

Teach, Learn, Share

First, I would recommend to experience a Vipassana course. It teaches you to observe yourself and take your life really in your own hands. There's many other ways to do this but I liked the guidance and bootcamp style you get at this one as I mostly need my ass kicked and need to go full into something to not give up :)

I took some photography classes and love taking pictures therefore I could teach you about aperture/shutterspeed, filters, lenses etc...
I love photography as it does something my mind can't, it captures the moment.

If you want to help the world, except for volunteering and coming up with great ideas, there is something very easy and fullfilling to do: microloans! You can lend some money to people to help set up their business. See http://www.kiva.org Nothing to lose! And it feels great knowing that even if you're not doing anything you do help a tiny bit someone somewhere :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Gambia, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Scotland, United States

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