I'm a simple person, currently doing a PhD on cities, water and energy use. I try my best to have an open mind and an international mindset. I am Belgian, and I have had the privilege and pleasure of living in Italy, the US, Austria, the UK and India. I love to travel and to discover and try new things in general, including of course meeting new people. I connect with people easily. People trust me because I trust them, and I feel very safe when I have people around: I am a very social being.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

By giving people a home on the road and by making them feel at home, by trying to give hosts the best of me, by sharing ideas and experiences, by helping out with anything, ...

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I did quite some couchsurfing which did not pass through the website before signing up, staying over at friends' places or at their friends' in the places I traveled to, and also hosting friends, friends of friends and an occasional stranger at home or in Turin while I was living there. Then I did some official couchsurfing in the US in April 2010, and I hosted a lot of people in New Haven, one person in Hawai'i and plenty again in Vienna. Living in London I unfortunately don't have the freedom to host, but I hope to one day host again in my own place.

Interests

Language!
Our natural environment and how we interact with it on local and global scales
Moving
Running
People
Good food and eating in general
Conversations over some drinks
How people see and experience 'spirituality'

• environment
• dining
• running
• drinking
• traveling
• engineering
• environmental studies
• forestry
• languages
• mathematics

Music, Movies, and Books

Books I liked: "A Short History of Nearly Everything" - Bill Bryson; "Changing Places" and "Small World" by David Lodge; "Hyperion" series by Dan Simmons; "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac; "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan; "Nature's Metropolis" by William Cronon is also an incredibly interesting book, about how nature was commodified and how we got to the present economic system using Chicago as an example.
"The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Edward Abbey - very inspiring!
"Shantaram" - termed 'slum porn' by some friends but such a great book!
Movies: Forrest Gump, Il Postino, Manhattan are three I very much enjoyed.
Music: music that has a tune, music that I can sing under the shower, music with the capacity to energize. Current favorite song is the 'Atomic Bomb' cover by Hot Chip

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Jump into blowholes and off the cliff at the Southernmost point of the USA on the Island of Hawai'i.

Teach, Learn, Share

I could teach you some languages. I could teach you how to make delicious tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese. I could try to teach you how to balance a balero. And many other things!
One particular thing I want to know more about is our consciousness: what it is, what it can do. I would like to experience something 'spiritual', because many people claim to have done so (not necessarily through drugs) and I believe them. I want someone to give me a theory about this that is not in conflict with my scientific mind, or I want someone to show me where my scientific mind is wrong.
Trying hard to learn empathy, and slowly getting better at it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories, worldviews, one or two things about global energy and water systems and cities, food, beer, love and kindness.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Belgium, India, Italy, United Kingdom, United States

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