CURRENT COUNTRY
The Netherlands
We recently moved from Amsterdam to Utrecht (LIVING IN UTRECHT)

CURRENT MISSION

Setting up businesses all over the place. I love traveling and earning my living along the way. I've had a Bed and Breakfast in Maastricht (the Netherlands), then sold it. Then moved to Brasov (Romania) and created a second Bed and Breakfast over there. Then sold it again. After that I moved to back to Maastricht and opened up a coffee bar and vegan bakery and eventually sold that one as well! Now I own a coffee bar and bakery in Utrecht.

I recently wrote my first novel, which will be published in June. I'm working on my second one right now.

We weren't hosting for a while because of Covid19, but now our apartment is open for fellow travellers!

I live together with my partner: Dario.

ABOUT US (me and Dario)
We met each other at Law School in 2012 and have been inseparable ever since and have been happily married for almost 10 years now.

MEREL
I am an openminded person who has a passion for the world and everything in it. I love to explore, learn and go for the unknown. Right now I've been to more than 50 countries, and I'm planning on making this list longer. I love to write, bake cakes and visit new places. Give me a cup of coffee and good company and it will rock my day.

DARIO
I love travelling all over the place, playing music, learning as many languages as possible (I speak 6 so far) and connecting by making friends everywhere. I lived in Greece, Albania and in the Netherlands and I love playing the guitar.

PHILOSOPHY
Eat that cake!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW WE PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

This is the single greatest way of meeting and befriending people, you'd otherwise never have met.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We travelled for two weeks around Scotland with a small Peugeot and experienced ridiculous/awesome situations. We will tell you about it over beer, laughter guaranteed! We couchsurfed in Paris and met the sweetest people and in Romania we couch surfed as well. The list is much longer though. We hosted many people in Maastricht over the years, but that was even before we knew about CS. We also hosted during our time in Brasov, Romania and in Amsterdam. We love absolutely love having people over. Every experience has been good so far!

Interests

Traveling, reading, painting, writing and photography. Merel is a very creative person who loves to be busy. You will find Dario reading book, drinking coffee and playing his guitar

• writing
• photography
• dining
• beer
• coffee
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• painting
• music
• business
• languages
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

We are big suckers for cool series and historical movies.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

All our travels have left a great impression on us, one not greater than the other.

-I (Merel) lived in a Buddhist monastery in Japan, this really had a impact on me. I practised silence and endurance.

-I moved alone to Canada when I was 16 and learned to be on my own and to make friends.

- A randomly hitchhiking to Berlin from Maastricht. One of the coolest trips

- Hitchhiking in Albania with Dario

- Moving to Romania to set up a second rental business. We made amazing friends!

Teach, Learn, Share

We will never stop learning. Never want to!

What I Can Share with Hosts

- A sleeping couch in our living room.
- We would love to show you around if we are free (come and have a coffee in my cafe!)
- Good conversations and beer guaranteed

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Lesotho, Maldives, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Panama, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Virgin Islands, British

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Romania