CURRENT MISSION

Enjoy daily life full of love, learn & discover more of it

ABOUT ME

25 years ago born and ever since living in Amsterdam. Travelling is my passion: love discovering new landscapes, people and cultures. Friendly, humorous, responsible, curious, intelligent, sensitive. Love to have fun, but mostly relaxed (not a party girl). Enjoy the small things in life.

PHILOSOPHY

Most important: people I love and who love me. Through my education help protect environment and contribute to human rights. Freedom to live your life and be able to develope your skills. Enjoy small things the most, rather enjoy a lot of little stuff, than enjoy little of a lot. Try to have no prejudices, keep an open/honest mind. Life is short & you only have one, so live it and live your own!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Meet new people, not just be a tourist on my trips, but actually get to know the heart of a place...and make new friends. It will always be a nice experience to have hospitable people wanting to share a bit of their life elsewhere in this world. So if you want to guide me, have a talk, enjoy each others company or even have a place where I can stay, you're welcome to let me know!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I am still relatively new at this, but I have so far hosted some travelers, offering company and guidance. I have also received advises on request about my own trips.

A view tips/sightseeings for visitors (besides the usual known) in NL:

- Amsterdam:
* Taking the free boat behind/north of Central Station at the IJ canal. Some go to the modern islands nearby in the east. Especially nice at night when you can see the city from a distance with all its lights.
* Getting out of the hectic centre (Kalverstraat etc.) & getting lost in the older parts (Old South, Old West) with the rings of canals and the typical old canal appartments. Also very nice at night. Or taking a walk in the evening along the canal Amstel.
* Don't worry to get totally lost. Amsterdam is compared to other capitals (London, Paris) only small & with public transport & the help of people you will easily find your way. It is also really quite safe almost everywhere (I've never been robbed or bothered), but of course use your common sense.
* Enjoy the multicultural food (of course I'm lucky with my good 'cook' mom), The Netherlands has so many nationalities and this is reflected in really nice restaurants or smaller eating places.
* Amsterdam South East. This is a quite young part of the city, very multicultural, I find the whole world there and love that. For tourists the most interesting part would be station Bijlmer Arena, with a massive cinema, the Amsterdam Arena (home of soccer team AJAX), the Heineken Music Hall (where artists perform) and the shopping mall 'Amsterdamse Poort' on the other side. East of the region there is the Gaasperplaspark with a big lake for recreation purposes (with the Campanile hotel).

- The Waddeneilanden (Northern islands)

- Kampen, a city in the North Eastern part of the country, east of the IJsselmeer. You can take a train from Zwolle. Beautiful at night, very romantic also! With a river, boats, many cathedrals, shops, I love the warm, friendly, old architecture very different from the rest of the country.

- The provence Zeeland (South West, boardering the North Sea & Belgium) and its capital Middelburg. Here you can see how much of a waterland The Netherlands is. Nice beaches, with woods, castles & nice architecture.

- The provence Limburg (South East), its capital Maastricht, Valkenburg (quiet though) with its underground caves, ruines, cosy people, terraces/pubs, the Vaalserberg (highest natural peak of NL) with its 'Drielandenpunt' (place where 3 countries, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany boarder against each other).

Interests

Travelling, trips in my own country, sports (hiking, biking, swimming), nature (beach, mountains, woods, animals, etc.), good food (whose isn't?), creativity, good company, friends & family.

• animals
• birds
• performing arts
• architecture
• education
• environment
• human rights
• dining
• cooking
• walking
• partying
• pub crawls
• boating
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• sports
• soccer
• swimming
• teaching
• tourism
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Several types, depends on the mood and situation. Movies: drama, comedy, romantic ('Lost in Translation', 'As Good As It Gets', 'Sliding Doors', etc.). Music: so many, like Coldplay, U2, dance/trance, Caribbean/Brazilian...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Beside every person that has given good memories in my heart...and having helped making another young person's dream come true before it was too late...as far for travelling:

Taking the train from Amsterdam to Rome (19 years old) and waking up during that journey in the morning surrounded by the Swiss snowy Alps, seeing mountains for the first time in my life as the sky is changing its colours every minute.

The view from the top of 500 meter high Brownsberg, Suriname. Dense tropical vegetation, hearing the birds and the monkeys, seeing the lake at the down side...as the sun goes down in this place where the temperature remains cool.

Walking all alone at the beach of the Algarve, Portugal at night, with so many stars in the sky.

Taking the boat in Luzern, Switzerland passing the mountains surrounding us, walking through this beautiful city at night.

Standing on top of the Eiffeltower with my classmates, freezing our butts of in January (2000), Winter Paris at night!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Suriname, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands