What I don't like about introducing yourself is that you usually share the basics, your name, age, place of birth and studies. Although I think that can be interesting it will not always tell something about who you are.

So I could start like that: I'm Esther, I'm 26 years old, I was born in a small town in The Netherlands but I lived in several places (I moved to Amsterdam for my studies and later moved around in Belgium and France). I studied Journalism, Worldreligions and Interreligious Dialogue. Much more I would like to introduce myself in person though. So we can have an exchange and we could talk about what those things mean for us and how we think about this wonderful weird world.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I lived in a community where there where couch surfers welcomed and it was such an enriching experience. I couchsurfed myself with some friends, I love how it can bring you into contact with places and people you would normally not meet. I ended up once in the middle of nowhere in the mountains in Italy with the nicest hippy couple and their donkey.

Interests

Music, religion, philosophy, reading, dogs, movies, art, traveling, spirituality, connecting, meditation, cities, nature, yoga, photography, reiki, breakfast, ukulele, dancing, nature.

I have a strong dislike for the tinder society.

Music, Movies, and Books

I love Antoine le Saint Exupery's books, especially 'Wind Sand and Stars'. So much beauty in there. Some other of my favorite authors are
Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha); Nietzsche (Zarathustra) and Carl Gustav Jung. At the moment I'm still reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' from Robert Pirsig and 'resurrecting Jesus' from Adyashanti.

I also love poems, especially Rumi and Charles Bukowski.

Music is such an important part of my life. I listen to Tom Waits, The National, Justin Vernon, Joni Mitchell, Ryan Adams, The Velvet Underground, Beck, Sufjan Stevens, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder and many more.

I'm into studio Ghibli movies. And yesterday I saw this movie Bab Aziz, someone recommended to me because it has this quote in it which I love: there are as many ways to God as there are souls on the earth. Very interesting movie.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My own unique view on the world, like any other person :)

I can cook for you, something vegetarian, something traditionally Dutch (although where not known for our kitchen;)) or something I learned along the way.

I can give you a reiki treatment if you're interested in that.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, France, Netherlands