CURRENT MISSION

Cheers! To life, to love, to everything!

ABOUT ME

I like:

The sound of..
the sea
night time outdoors
my mum's voice
a can of cider opening
acoustic guitars with steel strings
a Harley Davidson

The view of..
the Adriatic Sea
well-done tattoos and piercings
cinemas
old pubs
hand written letters/notes
sunshine
my fridge being full of good food

The smell of..
camp fire
fresh baked bread
my bed when I freshly made it
night
snow
a forest
books

The taste of..
Jack and Coke -not too much coke, not too much ice-
cream cheese and avocado
milk chocolate
stroopwafels
brazil nuts
licorice rolling papers

The feeling of..
Bodyshop body butter
toy animals
friendship
a new book
getting tattooed
daydreaming in my hammock

I hate:

The sound of..
my alarm clock
the crappy music they play at Carnaval

The view of..
a pile of clean laundry (because I hate putting it away)
Arnold Schwartzenegger in a movie
melting snow

The smell of..
cheap aftershave/perfume
christmas

The taste of..
blue cheese
chocolate sauce

The feeling of..
flying
being on a boat

What I want (to do) when I grow up
- have a library and a big movie screen
- drive a Harley Davidson
- open up a hostel
- move to Aruba
- NOT grow up! :D

PHILOSOPHY

I gave up my Ikea-life (apartment, boyfriend, everything was 'perfect') to go and find myself. I don't know if I really found myself, but I did learn to truly like myself. And I found a home. So this trip has definitely done some good.

I hope to make the world a better place by putting smiles on people's faces. One by one. And the cool thing is.. If you make someone smile, their day will be a TINY bit better than it was before.. And they might smile at someone else, who'll smile at someone else.. Pay it forward!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I was a nomadic ambassador for a few months and was a City Ambassador for London. I was organizing meetings, hosted some people ;), I meet up with travelers and spread the word :)
I was also an ambassador for Tilburg, where I mostly organized parties and moderated the group.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I LOVE Free Hugs Events, go to events that involve alcohol and I've surfed some couches in London, Croatia, Scotland, France, Germany, Ireland Italy and Switzerland.. I stopped counting after number 100 in Tilburg. No offense to my guests and hosts, but I just cannot keep up anymore :D
Unofficial hosts:- Holly- Michael- 'China man'- Eoin - Ange- Sidi- Tony- Patrick D.Hosts:- Ewout, Z'meer. He even gave up his own bed!- Valeria and Joe, Sheffield. Old friends, lovely stay. It's so good to have people who love you :)- Yoann, Dingle (Ireland). Super cool dude, very talkative and social. Great cat.- Raffaello and Sara, Verona. It wasn't a couch, but a tent on their wedding, it was super cool :)- Luca and Jurga, Verona. It was great to hang out again. - The Martians. These guys should get the Nobel prize for friendliness. - Sonia, London. I've known her for what seems to be forever and had a very nice time with her again :)- Barry, Amsterdam. He gave me and Peter a key and trusted us completely. Super cool guy :)- George, Edinburgh. He's very passionate about CS and I liked to hang out with him.- Margaret, London. Amazing times.- Florian from Liestal, Switzerland. Mijn schatteke.- Raffaello, Verona-ambassador. This guy is a proper CS MACHINE! - Tomislav, Zagreb-ambassador. Super host, deserves an award :)- Mia from Zagreb. One of my old friends, she is not on CS yet.. - Goga and Filip from Zagreb. Super sweet couple, I just failed to drag them out to a bar.. Love you guys!- Oliver from Germany, lives in Zagreb. Super host! Organised a meeting together and had a BLAST! - Alain, London. Brilliant food, great booze and company! Unofficial surfers:- Barry- Moe (x2)- Guiseppe- Dave- Mitch- Luis- Matt- Brendon- Chandeep- Tony- Katie and Agi (two old friends)
Over 100 guests in Tilburg:
We had many people coming here. Mostly for gigs in the local big venue 013, sometimes just to meet us. Randomers, musicians, hitchhikers, a tattoo artist, music lovers, animal lovers, old and new friends.- Kris from Poland. Officially Casa Merode Guest #100. Super cool and funny guy :)- Graeme, Schotland. Kind of a lot like Jass from Cambridge.. - Simon and Panda, France. Such a lovely, sweet, young couple. They could have stayed, easily.- Ben, Australia. Young, bubbly, cool. I wished I could have showed him London life because that would have been RAD!- Titiano. Don't mention. - Jos, Tilburg. As expected a very nice guest :)- Paul, France. Hmm.- Stephane, France/Germany. Great fun, sweet guy, miss him already.- Sergio and Susie, Spain. Although they were officially Bram's guests, I got to hang out with them quite a bit. They're lovely!- Kerstin and Niclas, Sofia's family. They're great, fit in this house!- Ofri from USA. She was one of my birthday guests and lots of fun!- Jonas, Belgium. Barely spoke to him, he was mostly talking to Erik. - Stef and Fabrice, France. They're the most lovely French couple and they gave us advice on our garden. And they have COOL tattoos!- A big group during a metal-festival. Lots of fun!- Steph from USA. I met her in London and had to see her again. Had a great time. Kites, handstands.. And she gave me Kamiel. - Johnny C. from London. He's such a cool guy, I love him to bits :)- Maikel from Netherlands. After the Fiesta de Casa Merode :)- Jasper from Belgium. Super cool guy, helped me out whilest fixing my bike. Thanks again mate!- Monique and Geert from Groningen. Barely saw them, actually..
Over 100 guests in London:
The flat above the Angel was a legendary place. The old red carpet has seen many faces come and go. In a city like London, you obviously get many tourists. But also the odd hitchhiker, people who want to move to London, giraffe lovers, music lovers, musical lovers.. And many, many more. - Jens from Germany. My last London surfer! He brought his own food. :)- Jana again and Tomas. He's a guitar player and left me a cd :)- Jana from Germany. She's cool, loud-ish, fun to be around with really.. She resembles Veronique, but without the snoring :D- Jeremy from USA. Haven't made up my mind about him yet. - James from Australia. He's an old friend who I've met in Antwerp in Nov 07 :)- Mike came back for a few nights- Phil came back for a night- Mike from Australia, great tattoos and a great personality. - Phil from Canada. Happy chappie!- Mike from US. The man with the Star Wars-tattoos.- Itamar from Israel. Cannot stop talking about Israel..- Emmerich from South Africa. Very goodlooking fella, really cool to hang out with.- Chrissy from US. Young, American.. - Jade from Australia. Loud, hysterical.. and absolutely hilarious! :D- Ash from Australia. Sings, dances.. and cooks breakfast :)- Nisa from Indonesia. We were the cripples-club. Me with my back pain and her with a migraine.. - Richard from N-Ireland. We had a picnic together, some hungover mornings and a late night in 12 Bar ;)- Luca from Italy. We met in Verona and now he came to see London. :)- Amy. Again :P- Gunthard from Germany. He brought me tobacco and.. eerh.. that was about it :)- Michail from Greece. His mates were staying in a hostel while he just wanted to experience London. Nice guy :)- Josh from US. Can have him around for ever. Free Hugs signs, events.. - Amy from US. Saved from another host, got her involved in CS London. And now she's my adopted sister ;)- Jordan from Australia. We did not get along. - Derek from Hong Kong. Super, super cool guest!- Zac from US. Sweet bloke. Shawshank & 12 Bar :)- Jesse & Annie. Picked them up at the Weekly Meeting.- Robin from South Africa. Kinda clashed..- Steph & Steve from Canada. Supercool couple. We partied hard :)- Heath from US. He was my nurse ;)- Paulina from Argentina. She's what CS is about. A breath of fresh air. - Siana from US. Barely any connection.- Jena from US. I made her attend Games Night, we went for a game of pool and drinks..- Ken from Australia. Kinda quiet, doesn't really know where he wants to be in life. - Tobias from Germany. Lives in Spain. He's young. And we had a SS-pubcrawl together ;)- Josh from US. Teacher in Spain, kinda typical American still ;)- Hilary from US. Just started traveling and should sleep more. Sweet gal. - Marcus from N-Ireland. Hysterical, fun, semi-crazy.- Justin. Came back. - Wolf and Rebecca from France/US. So great to see them again!- Alex from Germany. Fotographer, doesn't drink much but is SUPER cool :)- Kaitlyn from Australia. An Ozzie in Paris, super sweet gal and gets on with my friends really well. - Antonio from US. Very last minute but this actor was SO much fun!!- Justin from South Africa. This 20-year-old fella is coming back soon :)- Nicola from Italy. Took him to game night AND 12 Bar :)- Cecilia from Brazil. We knew each other before and I absolutely adore this gal. - Joker/Jacek from Poland. We met and after 5 seconds I agreed on hosting him. And it was superb!- Dave from Canada. Although he had his own stuff to do, we managed to go for drinks, have breakfast and good conversations. - Gustavo and Fernando from Argentina. Spent some good times together.- Mariano from Argentina. Very last minute and very laid back :)- Karl from Australia. Super newbie :D- Marc from Switzerland. If he comes back we should spend more day time together :)- Luis from Colombia. Super relaxed, super friendly.. I knew all this after xmas anyways. And he snores :D- Ceci from Argentina. She knows about espresso now and about mowhawk hats ;)- Klaas from Belgium. We had some monkey business to discuss..- Veronique from Belgium. Brought me chocolate and can drink and smoke like a bloke (or like me.. :)) Problem: snores like a bloke as well ;)- Javi from Argentina. Such a wonderful, loving fellow. Would love to have him around for longer.- Mel from France/UK. Super girl, very lively.. - Ioannis from Germany. Took a while to get to know him. - Jamey from Canada. Was supposed to stay one night, ended up staying for two. Great guy, mixes well with my friends!!- Jev from Russia/US. Great first timer :)- Emma from eerh.. complicated stuff! Great girl, got along really well and she'll be back :)- First surfer after coming back: Mauro from Argentina. Breakfast in bed, movies, drinks.. - Secret surfer: Derik from South Africa. My collegues thought that he was my boyfriend :)- Jass from Cambridge. Total traveler! - Silvi from Germany. Nice girl, was present for my hair cut -by Candice, again- and cooked me a nice meal. Thanks!- Daina from Australia. Great gal, too bad that her bag got taken on our first night. But she is great.- Florian from Germany. Great guy, had a blast. Was supposed to hitch to Paris together but split in Dover :)- Wolf from France. Didn't really surf my couch, but did sleep at mine. Absolutely great, super bloke, good friend. - Melissa from US. Sweet, young girl. :)- Robert from Czech Republic. Picked him up from tube station and went for drinks straight away. Slow drinker but cool guy :)- Raitis from Latvia. Brought me cookies and chocolate and got drunk with me and other CSers in a local bar.- Agnes from Austria. Very cool girl, who's very passionate about music. Met her in a karaoke-place :D- Sharna from Australia. Nice girl, had some lovely veggie food together. - Lily from Australia. Totally loved her. - Ben from France. Nice bloke, found himself a job in two days time. - Mark from Canada. Stayed here for two weeks in stead of two nights. Had a BLAST! Great, great times.- Sarah from Australia. See Mark. Loved to have the both of them in my place.- Alex from US. One night, quiet guy. Alright :)- Geri from Bulgaria. Sweet girl, kind of quiet. Went to a live music place together and had some drinks.. Maybe a bit too much ;)- David from US/Ireland. Two stunning blue eyes and a great personality. Came to study and did not in the end :) Thanks!- Luke and Sophie. We met up in a club, had food and some smokes (at 5 in the morning) and then it turned out that they had to wait for their train home (4 hrs!) so I told them to stay :)- Chris.. Came back aswell! - Ronen. He came back!- Jordan from Canada/France. He's an old friend and I LOVED to have him over. It was like a holiday. Saw the sun rise twice in a row.. ;)- Chris from US/France. Instant click. Loads of alcohol, fun and cigarettes involved. He's my b-day buddy. - Jerry from Malaysia. Didn't see each other much (my fault) but brought me some souvenirs. - Fiodor from Italy. Fun lovin', had the worst cold ever and gave it to me in the end (thnxx ;)). He can play that guitar!- Andrea from Italy. Sweet bloke, riding his bike trough the UK. Loves to live, talk and ask questions. - Phil from Germany. Just one night, a last-minute surfer. Cool guy, organised a nice meeting. He'll be hitching like I'm planning on doing.- Shernay from US. Nice, cool girl. Didn't see each other much because we were doing our own stuff. But had a very nice chat in my housemate's flat one night. - Ronen from Israel. Instant click, great guy. Had some cool walks, quite a lot of drinks, nice evening with my friends.. Come back whenever!- Neil from the UK. We have loads of things in common and therefore had a great chat. It's a pitty that he had to leave. :)- Eugenio and David from Mexico. Those guys walked everywhere, ate loads of pasta (& tuna) and were great to talk to. - Emily from the US/Germany. Vibrant girl, cool to hang out with. Took her to an underground pub-thing with live music. Great times. - Michael from the US. Took him to a gig and the Free Hugs event on LeiscSq. Good times :)- Janett from the US, great times aswell. We had too little time, thnxx to my working hours. She supervised the Mexican cooking, we went to the anti-war demonstration and had some good talks. - Petr from Czech Republic, had a great time. We had some nice conversations and cooked together. And we had a pint in Soho. We'll meet again :)

Interests

Listening and trying to play music, watching movies, singing out loud, enjoying art, tattoos and piercings, playing board- and card games, organizing events, celebrating birthdays (or any other party :)), enjoying (new) friends, travel and make plans for new travels, enjoying food & drinks, reading books, reading and leaving hand-written notes, hosting and meeting strangers, trying to find the love of my life -and busy loving life-.. and I actually enjoy working!

• animals
• cats
• arts
• books
• singing
• acting
• tattoos
• piercings
• perfumes
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• chocolate
• cheese
• beer
• picnic
• running
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• pub crawls
• flying
• gardening
• boating
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• music
• live music
• guitar
• karaoke
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• camping
• business
• teaching
• nursing
• last minute travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Amadeus, Amelie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Crash, Magnolia, Once, Leon, anything by Tim Burton, anything with Tim Robbins or Morgan Freeman (after 10 times I still cry at specific scenes of The Shawshank Redemption), British comedy.. etc

Music: Guitars and real singing. I really like old skool stuff like Queen and even The Beatles, but I enjoy System of a Down as well.

Books: Just about anything. Liked Perfume a lot, read it 4 times now: Twice in Dutch, once in German and once in English.
All time favorite is Blindness. This book shows how easy it is for humans to turn into animals.
Favorite kids' book: The BFG - Roald Dahl. I still read it once in a while.
Funniest book I've read: Round Ireland With a Fridge. Hilarious!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seen: The sun rise in Dubrovnik on the day that I was leaving this wonderful city. I had made so many friends, had had a great time.. and had to leave. Whilest singing "Blower's daughter", tears were running down my face. Done: Got a tattoo to remember my dad who died when I was 14. It's an angel, on my arm. I'll always miss and remember him, so I hope there's some kind of heaven (with a pub, so we can finally have a beer together).

Teach, Learn, Share

I would like to learn how to properly play the (acoustic) guitar. I just play a few chords..
And I can teach.. Dutch ;), a bit of veggie cooking..

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands, United Kingdom

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