CURRENT MISSION

after building up some life-experience, the time has come to explore our wonderful blue planet. I want to taste all five continents: from north to south, from west to east, from busy cultural cities to desolated nature. World, here I come !

ABOUT ME

Hi ;-) I’m Filip. I can describe myself as an optimistic, curious, ambitious, open-minded, warm sensitive person. I love to make people feel well easily with me and I like a good sense of humor. A day without humor isn’t a good day for me … I can easily adapt myself to all kinds of people. I like to listen to the stories of people because every person is unique and has so many things to tell about.
At 46, I am still very young at heart and recently I realised that I have seen very little of the world!
I am a single dad and have 2 wonderful sons: Simon (22) and Lucas (20)living with me on and off. We spend a lot of great moments together.
I used to work as an operating room assistent for 10 years in the local hospital of my hometown. After getting lots of experience and expertise I made the switch to the nursing education.
One of the benefits of my current job (I know I’m fortunate !) is that I’m getting in touch with all kind of people from different ages: my students, my collegues nurses and doctors in the hospital, the patients in all age groups: from young to old. No wonder you can describe me as a real philanthropist. Caring for people is one of my main characteristics.
Another great passion is my job as a volunteer firefighter in the local fire department – which takes a lot of my free time. Again: it’s about caring for people in difficult situations. I really enjoy meeting new people from different cultures.
I rarely go to bed before midnight, and my schedule is such that you might convince me to go out any day of the week!:)

PHILOSOPHY

Life is so amazing but a lot of people don’t realise ! …. Many of them live in a perpetual monotonous programmed circle : working, eating, sleeping: day by day, month by month, year by year. And before they realise, their lifes just pass away.
I don’t want to be lived, but I truly want to live.
That’s the reason why I try to enjoy every day, every single moment and it starts with the smallest things. Carpe diem is my slogan ! Thinking out of the box and looking to life from another cultural viewpoint can be so enlightening.
I still believe in the power of the human race and the connection we all have.
Every person is unique and deserves respect.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love the idea of hosting surfers from all around the world.
No matter if you’re young or old. No matter if you’re alone or a couple or travelling friends. No matter what’s the coulour of your skin. You are all very welcome !
It would be an honour for me to guide and show you our Belgian country and culture.
Exploring Belgium from different sensory perceptions could be a lifetime experience: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling …
Because of the small distances in Belgium and the central location where I live, the sky is the limit ! Every place is very accesible and we have a very good transportation network (train, bus).
I can offer you different trips and visits: visiting some great cities like the charming and romantic Bruges, the medieval university city of Ghent, Ypres (with the world war I history), the belgian coastline wit his great seafood. Or maybe you like to try some other local foods and drinks. Visiting some breweries to taste the Belgian beers … If you want to discover it on your own that’s ok, if I could join you, that’s even ok. It’s all up to you.

I'm always up for meeting new people for a coffee, and will always make time to show people around my city if that's what they want.
The more people I host, the more I enjoy it! Every connection makes the world that bit smaller. I love an interesting conversation with lots of laughs.

When partying is your main purpose for visiting Belgium (discotheques, die hard night owls …),you are at the wrong address. This doesn’t mean there is no time for a party. I would be the first person to join. I think there are so many other fantastic ways to celebrate life with the people of the world.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

3 years ago I had my first couchsurfing experience in Stockholm (Sweden). It was truly like a new world opening for me … I had a wonderful time and my host was such a nice person. She showed me the city in a way you never would experience as a traditional tourist. I get in touch with the real culture and the habits of the Swedish people. I stayed for 4 days in Sweden and then I travelled to Riga (Latvia) to my second host. Again it was a fantastic experience ! These 4 days in Riga were also overwhelming. We even had a fantastic night at the opera ! Couchsurfing is a great way to meet all kind of people from different cultures and from all over the world. I've met (next to my hosts) so many fantastic people during my first couchsurfing week ….
At the end of October 2014 and the beginning of November I went to Lissabon (Portugal) and stayed for 4 days with my third host…. And once again …. it was such a nice experience ! During the Christmas holidays 2014-2015 I traveled to Florida and visited Miami and Key West and stayed with 3 different hosts. This was so far my best couchsurfing experience: I've met so many great great people. Celebrating New Year's Eve was very special: I've spent the night together with couchsurfers from all over the world: United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Brasil, Belgium and Latvia. After my first 4 experiences I'm very sure about one thing: couchsurfing is my favorite way of traveling and this will be the only way I will be traveling in the future !!! I can't wait for my next trip ….

Update May 2015:

I've visited Sevilla in April 2015 and once again it was a wonderful experience. I've stayed with a great host and we had a great time together.
After almost experiencing 1 year the community of Couchsurfing 1 thing is for sure: it's one of the most overwhelming and fantastic things that happened in my whole life. I'm addicted to couchsurfing. World is just opening for me and the group of friends I have from all over the world is just getting bigger !!!

Update January 2017:

1 word for describing my travel experiences during the last 2 years: AMAZING !!!

An absolute highlight was the summer of 2015: I traveled together with my 2 sons in Canada. We made a full month trip all over Canada - starting in Toronto and staying with a wonderful couple I've met during my couchsurfing experience in Key West. They invited us to join them on a boat trip on Lake Ontario … My God … this was awesome and we had a hell of a party ! After staying with my family in Saskatchewan we traveled through the Rocky Mountains and finished our stay in British Columbia in Vancouver. Once again we had a wonderful experience to stay with an amazing host.

In the summer of 2016 I traveled to Copenhagen and stayed with another great host. Just telling you how couchsurfing connects people: my host became a very good friend and she even visited me in Belgium and was staying here for some days. Also during my time in Copenhagen I've met other wonderful people from all over the world.

During the first week of November 2016 I stayed with a another - once again - great host at the Balearic Islands. My host showed me the real island - viewed by the eyes of a real native…. Truly … the views … the experiences … are burned in my soul and mind …..

So what's the future ???

I will be traveling again …. for this year 2017 I've planned already 5 trips to places all over the world and I'm sure these moments will be full of adventures and meeting wonderful people from all over the world again !!!

Update June 2017:

My 2 first trips this year were memorable: Hong Kong and New York.... Once again I've met some great people from every corner of the world. My host Mary from Hong Kong was an amazing lady and we've spent a wonderful time.
One night we even joined a couchsurfing event in Hong Kong and met so many great great people.
Couchsurfing is just fabulous !!!!!
Right now the summer holidays are going to start and this means traveling again. I've planned some amazing trips. So during the next 2 months it will be difficult for me to host but after this I will be back and my doors will be open again to host you !!

Interests

I’m fascinated by nature from its smallest to biggest dimensions. Exploring and discovering stunning nature can really make me breathless.
No way how to taste and experience it: by hiking, swimming, flying, diving, … I love the challenge to discover it.

But even a crowded city with its human cultural influences is as much interesting to me.
The influence of our human race on our blue planet through history (buildings, art) can make me so amazed.

And of course there is the people of our planet …. Genetically we all are almost the same, but cultural influences made us apparently different. I think the truth is between. I’m ready to discover it.

Maybe due to my education (maybe my job) I have a special interest in science in the wide meaning of the word.
I like astronomy : looking at the stars at night and thinking about life can make me feel so small …. realising that we all are looking from our planet at the same stars in this wonderful universe.
I like the history of our planet, the history of our human race.
I like geography, anthropology, medicine.

Conclusion: I’m trying to be a cultural centipede ….

Photography and making small movies is a great way to catch all these experiences and feelings, so that’s another interest of me.

I love food from all over the world and often I’m trying to cook some dishes.
I also like the typical fluids ….. ;-) Here in Belgium we have great beers ….

And yes indeed: I also like to party ! When the appropriate time arises …. let the fun begin ….

“Mens sana in corpore sano” what means a healthy mind in a healty body.
I ‘m trying to be as active as I can: running, some fitness … it really makes you feel better.

As I told, I’m also very interested in everything what concerns firefighting and firefighting engineering. I hope in the future I can visit some fire brigades all over the world.

• arts
• culture
• photography
• education
• dining
• seafood
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• fitness
• running
• partying
• drinking
• flying
• movies
• traveling
• opera
• hiking
• scuba diving
• boxing
• swimming
• anthropology
• astronomy
• teaching
• emergency services
• engineering
• geography
• history
• medicine
• nursing
• science
• tourism
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music means a lot to me. It colours my life and brings me in so many moods.
It gives me time to relax, it gives me power and time to enjoy life and sing along, time to party, time to get in the right mood when exploring different cultures, time to think about the deeper meaning of life … For me music is undeniably linked with live.

I’m very open minded what concerns music and I like all kinds of music: from classical music (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, …) to recent housemusic (cfr. Tomorrowland).
From beautiful instrumental music (loungemusic, guitar music (Rodrigo y Gabriela), synthesizer music (Vangelis, J-M Jarre) to rock music (Kings of Leon, Metallica, Bryan Adams, …).
From world pop music from the 60-70-80-90 (the golden oldies, Depeche Mode, Abba, …) to recent pop music and hiphop (Arsenal, Coldplay, Katy B,….)
I like music from all corners of the world: the beautiful argentine tango, the Fado from Lisboa, the mystical music from Thailand and Indonesia, the Latin samba- and salsamusic from Brasil and the Caraibics …
I used to do some jobs as an amateur DJ, so I’m well known with all kinds of music.

Due to the fact that I’m a busy bee there isn’t much time left for movies and books.
I like to watch nature documentaries (the national geographic channel), antropology documentaries about different cultures, traveling.
And if there is a moment to read, I like to read about science in the wide meaning of the word: the human body, history, geography, cosmology…

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In the summer of 2015 I've made a 1 month trip with my 2 sons in Canada.
Some of the highlights (there were so so many ) was doing a hiking in the Rocky mountains and encountering a real grizzly bear ….. wooooow….. this was absolutely amazing…..
We also made a flight with a seaplane above Vancouver island …. these views were stunning and overwhelming …. We've landed on a lake … far away from human civilization and enjoyed the nature …. the sounds of nature … the silence …. Memories burned in my soul and mind ….

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to share my way of life with everybody. I have allready some life experience. Otherwise I'm also very interested to learn about everything because learning is something that never stops.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium