My mission has always been being able to provide for myself while doing what I love. Building my own dream, instead of just someone else's.

Ever since graduating art school in 2011, I've had my own business. I'm a Google Trusted Photographer, a portrait photographer, and I made a documentary about my mother and her fight against cancer, that she won. My portrait photography secret is acting so weird myself, that my subject won't have any shame left about themselves. I've done some work internationally but I have a hunger to explore much more of the world, so I'm planning on combining travelling and work as much as I can. You can find my work online: www.sannevanrenesse.nl

I love meeting and talking to new people, getting to know their passions, having interesting conversations, and laughing together. But I also love alone time, being quiet together, and watching movies and series. I love hiking through nature, exploring cities, going to pubs with live music, and finding silent, peaceful spots.

Nerdy
Open-minded

Once won an award for best double chin

Organised a festival with music, theatre, art, and film

Starting next spring I am going to visit every single European country by train!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Meeting people, interacting with them, getting to know them and what they know is one of the things I get most energy, inspiration, and drive from. I love this concept of being part of someone's life / family / experience for a while.

Interests

Filmmaking, photography, and writing.

Travelling, hiking, exploring (cities and landscapes), theatre, cinema, music, philosophy, personal stories and passions, acting.

I love cultures and their food.

Good movies and music.

Little things, like seeing people that don't know each other help each other; those are things that amaze me every time.

• culture
• writing
• photography
• documentaries
• concerts
• music festivals
• dining
• cooking
• cheese
• cocktails
• running
• walking
• technology
• movies
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• philosophy
• psychology
• art
• nature
• cities
• conversation
• exploring
• nerdy stuff
• open mind
• memes
• movies and series
• queer equality

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Almost everything but hardcore/style. Some examples: Pink Floyd, Trentemoller, Ry Cooder, Frank Zappa, Slash, Queens of the Stone Age, Buena Vista Social Club, Massive Attack, Muse, Air, Beth Hart, Radiohead / Thom Yorke, Cream, David Bowie, Eddie Vedder, James Blake, Jeff Beck, Jim Croce, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, old RHCP, The Beatles, Iggy Pop, The Doors, Foo Fighters, Moby, Tenacious D, Outkast, Nirvana, The Prodigy

Movies: Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodrigues, Stephen King, David Lynch, Pixar. Grindhouse, Mulholland Drive, Inception, The Lord of the Rings, Inglourious Bastards, Fern Gully, WallE, Harry Potter, Whiplash, The Shining, Django, Pan's Labyrinth, The Wolf of Wall Street, Fargo, Jurassic Park, Stand by Me, Mad Max, Drive, Blade Runner, Baby Driver, Interstellar

Series: Game of Thrones, True Blood, Skins, Stranger Things, American Horror Story, The OA, Sherlock, Black Mirror, True Detective, Dexter, Westworld, Hannibal, Misfits, Orange is the new Black, Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, From Dusk Till Dawn, Once, Outlander, Bates Motel, Sex Education, Dirk Gently, Please Like Me, The Big Bang Theory, Freaks & Geeks, Easy, Atypical, How I Met Your Mother, Californication, New Girl, iZombie, Brooklyn 99, Suits, Mindhunter, The IT Crowd, Mad Men, You, The Haunting of Hill House, Lucifer, Peaky Blinders, Fargo, Norsemen

Books: Stephen Fry, Niccolo Amaniti, Mo Hayder, Bukowski, Plato, Edgar Allan Poe. Harry Potter, Einstein's Dreams, The Lord of the Rings, Mark Stevens series, Mythos, The Alchemist, The Secret History

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Once we (7) were in the Zcech Republic in our holiday villa in the middle of nowhere. There were two restaurants. In the train from Holland to Prague, we met a group of other young people (6) and we invited them over. Amazingly, they really called us and came over bringing the drinks and we had to do the food, so we wanted to take them to the restaurant. It turned out everything was closed. Walking back we saw a tennis court and we asked if they knew something. They put together tables, told us they hadn't seen tourists in 30 years and they made us all the food they could find. They gave us schnapps and only had liters of beer who were refilled if you had a quarter to go. In the meantime, a friend of the other group took the last train from Austria to us while noone even knew where we were exactly and amazingly he found us right before dinner! He just guessed the bus number and the bus stop.. In the middle of the night we where all full and drunk and cost us €12,- per person. And the cherry on the cake: the guy who served us all night told us he doesn't even work there!

The owner asked us if we wanted to come eat there again and asked us what we wanted to eat then (it wasn't even a restaurant), so we asked for the local specialty. That day, he took us with him in his car to a town with a supermarket and he made us goulash with the best self made bread ever, salades and fried cheese.

Once won an award for best double chin and was on national radio for it

Teach, Learn, Share

Cooking Spanish, Dutch, and Indonesian, or making something out of nothing (when you think you have nothing to make a meal out of, I can most of the time).

Photography and entrepeneurship. I graduated art school and am a 'bachelor of fine arts'.

The best shows and movies to watch.

I'm a great listener and never judge.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hiking, conversing, being quiet and watching movies, listening to music, walking through cities, going to a theatre, concert, or cinema, going to a pub or restaurant.

I love having intellectual conversations, but get a kick out of making everybody laugh as well.

Travel stories.

Good food.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Spain