Heyhey!

My name is Mees, I'm a 24-year old architecture student from the Netherlands. I'm a curious person who loves travelling and meeting new people. There’s many things in the world that make me wonder, and I’m trying to learn wherever I go. I love the quiet and the loud, on the one hand I enjoy drawing, drinking coffee, traveling by train, taking swims, being in nature, doing yoga, hitchhiking, cycling. On the other, I love going out for drinks, nighttime adventures, clubbing, dancing.

What’s left? I’m open to people from all backgrounds, identities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, cultures, religions, etc., and therefore would like to surround myself with open-minded people. Hope to meet you soon!

instagram: @meesvanrhijn

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I would love to get in touch with local people. I always feel like staying in a home somewhere is a great way to feel like you're actually living in a place for a while, rather than being a visitor staying in a hotel. This is the core of travelling for me: connecting to the people who call these places their home.

Interests

• culture
• books
• architecture
• dancing
• cooking
• coffee
• yoga
• clubbing
• gardening
• painting
• drawing
• cycling
• camping
• swimming
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• art
• world
• travelling
• nature
• spirituality
• museums
• sunrise
• the great outdoors

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
The Alchemist - Paolo Coelho
The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
Stories from Istanbul - Sait Faik Abasıyanık
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Het Huis van de Moskee - Kader Abdullah
The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Nine Lives - William Dalrymple
Siddharta - Herman Hesse

Music:
Spinvis, Tom Zé, Âşık Veysel, Sufjan Stevens, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Kokoroko, Fleetwood Mac, Portico Quartet, Orchestra Baobab, Mim Suleiman, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anouar Brahem, the Smiths, Toots & The Maytals, the Kooks, Habibi Funk, Ebo Taylor, J.J. Cale, Altın Gün, Ali Farka Touré, Eric Satie, Connan Mockasin, Neil Young, Fatoumata Diawara, Pink Floyd, Amadou & Mariam, David Bowie, Fikret Kızılok, Karen Dalton, Doe Maar, Yo La Tengo, Whitney, Gil Scott-Heron, Claude Debussy, Bedouin Burger, Grace Jones, Tracy Chapman, Bill Withers, Nils Frahm, HNNY, Lijadu Sisters, CHIC, Bahamas, Ruhi Su, Habib Koité, Baba Zula, Natalia Lafourcade, Mac Miller, Blick Bassy, Amanaz, Calypso Rose, Al Green, Tülay German, Khruangbin, Skinshape, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Nina Simone, Mac DeMarco, Kourosh Yaghmaei

What I Can Share with Hosts

Positive energy, conversations, cultural exchange, food and cooking, walks around town, a listening ear

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Turkey