CURRENT MISSION

Biking with my girlfriend and an awesome motorcycle from february to august 2013, starting in Argentine and ending in Colombia. I hope to meet a lot of locals and participate in their customs and traditions, while learning some spanish. Bring it world!

ABOUT ME

So, a bit about myself: I am a dutch political science student, hoping to finish the study at the University of Amsterdam in 2014. After that my interest lies somewhere entirely else: with setting up my own company in the internet start-up scene. Quite ambitious and quite vague, i know, but a challenge nonetheless!

I am travelling with my girlfriend, Suzanne, who is also majoring in political science, although her interest really does lie in public policy. We met eachother at the University and are in a relationship now for about 3 years! Long enough for us to go on a trip through South America together! We just both got our motorlicense in the Netherlands and will travel from Argentine to Colombia on the motorcycle :) It's ambitious and I just love it!

So, a bit more about my hobbies and preferences: I love travelling and everything about it. I guess that is normal for this community, but still it can't hurt to say it again. I started backpacking through Eastern Europe when I finished highschool and since then I lived in Madrid and Bristol, organized study trips to Turkey, China and Poland, and backpacked through India and the Balkans. Moreover, I work in a travelbookstore (yes, I sell your Lonely Planets and Rough guides!) And now it's time for the biggest adventure ever: South America! Me and my girlfriend did a spanish course already (hablamos un pocito de espanol :) ) and hope to be able to (learn to) communicate there. Well, send me a message/e-mail for more information; me and Suzanne hope to meet you!

PHILOSOPHY

Well, here I really cannot escape from the following: seeing as much of the world as possible! But I would very much like to contribute to local societies and the international community with my own start-up after my studies. If we meet, I'll tell you all about it!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I was just introduced to Couchsurfing before the big trip through South America; and me and my girlfriend hosted an Italian couple in Amsterdam then. It was a great experience, and I look forward to surfing in South America (probably Argentine, Bolivia, Peru, Equador and Colombia) as well as hosting again when we come back!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Not much yet, as described above! I have hosted an Italian couple once in Amsterdam and that experience was amazing!

Interests

Hobbies: backpacking, going to the cinema, drinking coffee with friends, playing videogames, playing hockey and everything about gadgets

Interests: internet start-ups, conflict resolution & governance, modern (political) philosophy and the videogames industry

• coffee
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• cycling
• backpacking
• surfing
• hockey
• political science
• public policy
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Well, I will just name the music, movies and books that made the biggest impact on me or that I just love to watch:

Music:
dEUS (Belgian band)
The Beatles (of course)
Radiohead
Daft Punk
Justice
Goldfish
The xx
A Tribe Called Quest

Books:
Discovery of Heaven - Mulisch (dutch)
The Darkroom of Damocles - Hermans (also dutch)
Naked - David Sedaris
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Harry Potter series - Rowling (can't help it, just love them)

Series/movies:
The Wire (a series about the Baltimore police and the drugscene, very very realistic!)
Game of Thrones
Modern Family
De Rouille et d'Os
Detachment
The Grey
Gladiator
Goldeneye (youth sentiment)
We Are The Night

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling all the way up from Manali to Leh in the Himalayas. The trip was long but o so beautiful; we passed such different landscapes! And at a certain point we had to wait 12 hours on a mountain at 4000 kms high because of a landslide and we just roamed around the nomansland!

Teach, Learn, Share

Learn: speaking Spanish!

Teach: political science, political thinkers, ways to see, handle and solve conflict and more broadly I like to discuss the modern society as a given and how we are able to change it for the better. Also, I know a lot about the videogames industry, if you're interested!