I’m Bente, I’m 22 and I am from The Netherlands! I have just finished my bachelor in International
Studies at Leiden University, where I focused on Russia/Eurasia as a region. I am currently taking a gap year before starting my masters, and am working part time as a journalist. I have solo traveled through Europe twice, and both were an amazing experience and I met so many lovely people. Now that I am fully vaccinated, I’m ready to take on the world again! My experience with Couchsurfing is that it gets you to meet the coolest people and see the most interesting places.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet new people and it seems like the best way to truly discover a country/culture. The experiences are truly like no other, you see parts of a country/city that are not in most tourist brochures.

Interests

Travel, politics, history, languages, geography, music, journalism, working out, food, volleyball, tv series

• concerts
• lgbt rights
• environment
• working out
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• volleyball
• history
• feminism
• eurovision

Music, Movies, and Books

My music taste is very broad, I can appreciate anything from pop to rock to classical music. As for movies, I tend to enjoy crime movies with a good storyline. I love reading, and have read a lot of (mostly Dutch) classics, but I can also enjoy a fun, lighthearted young adult book! Books about history are also some of my favorites, and I am a big geography nerd, so that’s always a subject of interest for me as well.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travel alone for a month. I’m also proud of the fact that I passed my first year in University with honors!

Teach, Learn, Share

I hope I can teach some positivity and optimism to people, as I’m often told to be a bright spirit :) Besides that, I can share my knowledge on the Dutch, English or Russian language or some interesting history facts. Also, if you like the Eurovision Song Contest, I am full of interesting stories about my part time job as a journalist at the contest!

Some things I hope to learn are how to cook more healthy, vegetarian meals, and how to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle (especially as a low budget student). Also, I would love to learn how to play an instrument!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully some nice stories, anecdotes, a love for music (although i can’t play an instrument, i like to think i have an okay voice ;) ). I’m always up for an interesting discussion on any kind of topic!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands