CURRENT MISSION

Let that which does not matter truly slide.

ABOUT ME

All? About me..? Giving all the goodies away up front would kind of make you not read any further, wouldn't it? So please let your eyes glide on along these lines. When reading is not enough, then write! I'm addicted to answering all messages I get so you'll most likely get an answer. I like writing answers, writing all kinds of stuff actually. And then I like thinking. And talking. And any possible combination of the three.

I guess that will have to do for an introduction right now. Come surf with me for a second first impression! If you've read this far, I think I like you already. Good vibes.

July 11th is World Population Day, so it's just not my party!

I'm enjoy that which is new to me. People, thoughts, places, things and all the other stuff.

If I haven't tried it before, I definitely will.
If it was fun last time, I'll gladly do it again.
If it wasn't fun, I'll try again and make it better.

PHILOSOPHY

Realize. Synthesize. Socialize. Globalize. Energize.

I pursue moments/feelings/people/places/things that make me feel so good I wish that time would freeze forever.

When you feel like the world is twirling away under your feet, the solution could be to spin faster yourself.

The only way to always be the same is to be in constant change. Change is life, life is change.

Smile at yesterday. Live for today. Dream about tomorrow.

Life's too short not to drink wine that sparkles.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

CouchSurfing was my first online community, perhaps even my first community in some respects. I was hooked from my first surf in NYC and the addiction is still there. I organized and participated in events all over Europe, designed group logos and moderated the Gothenburg forum.

Many years have gone by since my first crush on CS and with inspiration from all the incredible people it brought my way, I have now managed to create a life for myself that includes many of the values that CS brings. So even though I am a lot less active now than a couple of years ago, I feel like I am more of a couchsurfer than ever.

When I do host or surf these days, I invest in the relationship. That's something I learned early on with CS and it has stayed with me since.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I try to keep track so that I can have a decently even host/surfer ratio.

Official hosting (of people from):

- Stuttgart
- Pleasanton
- Luzern
- Schifferstadt
- San Antonio
- Munich
- Lisboa
- Bergen/Oslo/Zurich
- Elverum
- Chicago

- Birmingham
- Sydney
- Elverum again (what are the odds?)
- Karlskrona/Vancouver
- Lund
- Bologna
- Adelaide
- Karlstad/Tampere
- Gothenburg
- Bergen/London

- Gothenburg
- Madison (carhosting)
- Pilsen (carhosting)
- Boras
- Linkoping
- Calgary
- Hildesheim
- Delmenhorst
- San Francisco (carhosting)
- Onsala/Seattle

- Roskilde/Seattle
- Maastricht
- Berlin
- Launceston
- Sundbyberg
- Vienna
- London/Nantes
- San Diego
- Eau Claire
- Cologne

- Portsmouth
- Hamburg
- Leiden
- Vienna
- Kristianstad
- Toronto
- London/Boston
- Sofia
- Arnhem/Boulder
- Prague/Lisbon

- Seattle
- Paris/Arlington
- Berlin
- Bend
- Prague
- Berlin
- D.C.
- Amsterdam
- Nuremberg/Hamburg
- Berlin/Shingletown (carhosting)

Official surfing (with people in):

- New York
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Omaha
- Rapid city
- Driggs
- Fairbanks
- Anchorage
- New York again
- Gothenburg

- Gothenburg again
- Riga
- Kaliningrad
- Riga again
- Gothenburg
- Greifswald
- Woerden
- Amsterdam
- Woerden again
- Dordrecht

- Mesnil sous les cotes
- Belfort
- Lenzburg
- Vico morcote
- Milan
- Pistoia
- Toulon
- La Seyne sur Mer
- Mesnil sous les cotes again
- Esch sur Alzette

- Gothenburg
- Maastricht
- Mesnil sous les cotes third time
- Geneva
- Lund
- Saltsjöbaden
- Berlin
- Malmö
- Copenhagen
- Dyrön

- Utrecht
- Rotterdam
- Frankfurt Oder
- Sofia
- Sofia again
- Århus
- Edinburgh
- Århus
- Kristianstad
- Dordrecht

- Braine-l'Alleud
- Rotterdam
- Schiedam
- Bergschenhoek
- Capelle aan den IJssel
- Schiedam again
- Dordrecht encore
- Munich
- Dresden
- Zagreb

- Ljubljana
- Marrakech
- Casablanca
- Warsaw
- Istanbul
- Kiruna
- Sundsvall
- Madrid

Before I became an official couchsurfer, I noticed that whenever I slept somewhere else than in my bed I tended to sleep more or less curled up. It's not that I was (or am) exceptionally tall, I just seemed to find those places where there wasn't that much space. Like in the backseat of a '66 VW Beetle parked next to a Danish beach, in a hole under a tree with stones from a makeshift fireplace to keep me warm or with two other people and all our luggage in a one person tent at a reggae music festival.

Interests

- Spending time with friends and other nice people, engaging in meaningful exchanges
- Exploring and creating
- Clubbing and dancing
- Being a contemporary nomad
- Building my own furniture from stuff I find in the streets
- BMX biking, skiing and ultimate frisbee (occasionally)
- Urbanism, globalization and interculturalism
- DJing and discgolfing (with mp3s and frisbees respectively)

Also:
- Backgammon
- Puns
- Late night urban promenades or bike rides
- Most kinds of tea
- Typography

• writing
• perfumes
• festivals
• dancing
• cooking
• wine
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• reading
• socializing
• bouldering
• investing
• music
• guitar
• reggae music
• cycling
• surfing
• skiing
• track and field
• languages
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies
I not the biggest fan of film as a medium, but I can enjoy anything that's not too obviously comical, unnecessarily violent, overly Hollywoodish or completely based on the concept of laughing at other people getting hurt or embarrassed. Richard Linklater's Waking Life is one of my all time favorites though.

Music
The origin of my music interest is French electronic dance music. But my itunes has a lot of really random stuff. Artists whose work I appreciate include:

Air
Basement Jaxx
Bob Sinclar
Bright Eyes
Cassius
Chinese Man
Daft Punk
Deadmau5
Jamiroquai
Katzenjammer
Manu Chao
Morrissey
Outkast
Phoenix
Red Hot Chilipeppers
Röyksopp
The Wombats

Books
I enjoy fiction that deals with change and development in human beings and non-fiction that explores those human beings' conditions of life. Here are a few favourites, unfortunately male American writers are over-represented. (Please send me suggestions on books worth reading.)

Douglas Adams - The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
Jack Kerouac - On the road
Viktor Pelevin - Generation P
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
Will Ferguson - Happiness(tm)
Haruki Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Ian McDonald - The Dervish House

I'm a fan of Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummernight's Dream.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I bet one of my friends that I could eat a spoonful of wasabi and won a free sushi lunch!

Teach, Learn, Share

I believe the best teaching and learning comes about through exchange in mutual fields of interest. Here are few things that I really enjoy sharing with other people:
- Languages (the best part here is that as soon we're communicating we've already got the exchange going)
- User-centric solutions to wicked problems
- Thoughts on a satisfying, sustainable development in society as a whole as well as in individuals

As for pure teaching I'm always excited about a game of "Swedish dice". Played from Alaska to Germany and from St Louis to the far shores of Norway, this addictive game takes five minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. I learned it from a friend a few years back and since then it's been a little project of mine to get it out across the globe.

In the learning section, I need to improve my cooking skills (preferably sans meat). I'd also really like to learn more about DJing, guitar playing, and perceptions of happiness.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands

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