CURRENT MISSION

"Sit back and relax" - or learning how to do that

ABOUT ME

Born and raised in Brugge, but moved to Wevelgem, south of West-Flandres. Of course I love to travel, but I'm always happy to come back here too.

I have a boyfriend, Frank, we also travel together. Sometimes as a couple, we will host you, or we will travel, but sometimes we will travel with "all" our kids.
I have one son (21), who likes to travel as well. He lives on his own. His name is Merijn [muh-rain] but he loves to be called Jack and he speaks good English. He's a gamer, a picky eater, and he loves cats.
Frank has 2 kids:
Lore, an 16 year old girl, who likes to read, play outside with her friends, she loves to help and cook for you or with you!
Lukas, an 14 year old boy, who is very active, loves pc and videogames, but also the outdoors, basketball and biking.

I have been on Couchsurfing since June 2006, together with my son, Frank and his kids are new to it, but love the whole idea.
Frank is a well-experienced traveller, who spent lots of time in India, Nepal, Australia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, New Zealand, Cambodia, USA, Canada, Turkey, Norway,... In short: he traveled a LOOOOT more than me!
He is coaching basketball to teenagers, but his "real" job takes place in an office with International Dispatching, he lives and works near the French border. He's a good cook, enjoys sports and the outdoors, and loves sauna.

PHILOSOPHY

My house is a place where I like to be, but I love to go away and return to it. Opening my heart and house gives meaning to my current life and helps me broaden my mind.

We are apparently not ready for what we think we are looking for; give a person what he wants and he will not want it anymore, give him rest and security and he will get bored.

Honesty is such a lonely word. Speak your mind. It may hurt for a while but then it will always make sense and keep the respect intact. Life is too short for grudges.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Organised more than 50 CS-meetings - especially in Bruges, but I like to meet CS-ers wherever I go!
Co-organised the Independent Women Meeting in March 2008;
Meeting for Feest in 't Park Brugge June 2007,2008,2009, 2010;
CS Paella in Switzerland was A W E S O M E !!
CSinterklaas in Rotterdam '07, '08 and '09 was A M A Z I N G !!!
I used to be part of the CS-workingteams:
- Contact us questions,
- New Member Welcome group
- Belgium & Lux CS Organisation

Used to be working in the Ambassador Support Team as Global Ambassador, but I gave up on it: the importance of Ambassadors is relative. I'm a very experienced Couchsurfer, in both hosting, surfing, etc... and you can ask me anything, but don't mind about the title or flag. I am now a Family Amb because I think it's important that people know CS is not only for single and young people, but also for families and 'older' people.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In my life I have slept on many couches, beds, floors that were not my own or my parents. I've been hosted by the kindest people and have hosted many friends, relatives as well.
My REAL couchsurfing experiences you will all find below... I have surfed in San Francisco, Yosemite, Chico, LA, Rome, Paris, London, Milan, Gossau (CH), Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Gent, Antwerp, Liège, Rochefort, Prague, Pilsen, Vienna, Barcelona, Dublin, Cork,...

Interests

Reading.
Movies.
Being on stage acting & singing.
I like old photographs.
Taking pictures of people.
First springtime-sunshine.
BBQ's. Especially veggie ones!
Kittens. Puppies.
Folkdancing.
Any style of dancing.
People who teach me some more dancing.
Singing in harmony in a car on a roadtrip.
Blue eyes.
Teamwork.
Grass in a park. Or my own garden.
Spaghetti in L'Estaminet.
Sushi.
Duchesse de Bourgogne. (the beer not the woman!)
Old recordplayers. Lp's. I finally own a recordplayer again, and I don't mind if you bring your old LP's... :-)

• cats
• singing
• acting
• dancing
• cooking
• beer
• bbq
• sauna
• gardening
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• surfing
• sports
• basketball
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Nicci French, Helen Fielding, Nick Hornby, Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, Elisabeth Georges, Josie Dew, psychological stuff, travel books :)

Movies: The Commitments, Into the wild, La vita e bella, Y tu mama tambien, Brokeback Mountain, Amélie Poulain, Little voice, but also LOTR, sure, Ken Loach movies, Tarantino, Aldomodovar, ...

Music:Rock and all music with a melody, I'm not really into dance or house music (sorry) - Belgian music: Lalalover, Sioen, Picklejuice, K's choice, Deepfreezer, Ozark Henry, Kadril, Lais, etc... Others: Melissa Etheridge, Ludovico Einaudi, Regina Spektor, Nathalie Merchant, James Taylor, Indigo Girls, Beatles, Phil Collins, well... lots of 80's music in general, now: Maroon5, Keane, Kane, Anouk, Skin, Pink, Anastacia,...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Driving 1900 kms through 6 countries in one weekend, just to attend the CS paella in Switzerland!
Going to Stockholm but ending up in Rotterdam for a Sinterklaas meeting!
Driving 800 kms in 24h just to see someone. (Yeah I like driving ;-)
Couchsurfing on top of an almost deserted mountain near Yosemite with a guy called Bear who used to be a Cage fighter...

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach you how to smile more, how to use a digital reflex-camera, how to set up a CS-meeting, how to become addicted to CS, how to read braille, how to speak Dutch and Brugs, I can also teach you some folkdances.

Learn more of all kinds of subjects, more languages (Spanish! Italian!), or at least say 1 or 2 phrases in every language - Come and write "welcome" on my wall in YOUR language!

Share my thoughts, my house, my music, my town, my addiction,...

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium

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