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Overview

  • 32 references 19 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in Dutch, English, French, Swedish; learning German, Spanish
  • 42, Male
  • Member since 2007
  • Philosophising, bicycle repairing, ski teaching, (web) de...
  • philosophy (Ghent Univ.), friends and family, but mostly ...
  • From Belgium
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

Programming-philosophising-treehugging veggie nomad, just recently switched SE for BE (lived in Bohuslän for a year). Born in what is now called Belgium.
My bike is my most precious asset.
Am a bundle of contradictions.
Critical/sceptical about relational norms.
Cynical pessimist and joyful optimist at the same time: I think sentient beings are inherently good, but I also think humanity is a cancer on this planet.
Have a Border Collie who likes math (who is currently living in Barcelona).
Fancy restaurants make me very uncomfortable.
Addicted to coffee and sambal.
Aspiring vegan, writer (with beard and pipe), nudist, early bird, parent,... aspiring a lot of things, really.
Full of ideas that - apparently - sound radical, but, in my mind are just logical.
Want to write a book on how our species can finally become human. And one on the importance of self-reference.
I don't get sarcasm.
Earn your turns.

Favorite website: https://aeon.co/

CURRENT MISSION

Plan the next trip. Always. (And grow up... it's about time for that... :-) )

PHILOSOPHY

Be nice: nice guys finish first.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Well, surfing, hosting and simply introducing people to this wonderful idea!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Surfed:
1) Nina, summer 2007, Slovenia,
2) Gandalf & Sara, summer 2007, Slovenia,
3) Adrien Carriay, Antoine Paré and Carmen Rouanet, September 2009, Pau, France,
4) Vince and Ela, September 2009, Toulouse, France,
5) Elin Karlsson, July 2010, Stockholm, Sweden,
6) Luraya Lukas (and friends), July 2010, Orsa (Skattungbyn), Sweden,
7) Lisa Payne and Daniel Lundkvist, July 2010, Östersund, Sweden,
8) Jörgen Carlberg, July 2010, Järvsö, Sweden
9) Anna Lindholm, July 2010, Uppsala, Sweden,
10) Faroogh Hassan, July 2010, Uppsala, Sweden,
11) Patrik Järvelöv, July 2010, Nyköping, Sweden,
12) Annica, Torkel, Linnea, July 2013, Karlstad, Sweden,
13) Lena Østerhus, November 2015, Stavanger, Norway,
14) Kristoffer Larsen, November 2015, Stavanger, Norway,
15) ...

Hosted:
1) Magen and Derrick (USA), june 2008
2) Trike (are Stephen and Xania) (Canada), july 2008,
3) Esther (Germany), august 2008,
4) Hadewijch (Belgium) and Maria (Poland), august 2008.
5) Trike (again) and Ineke, february 2009,
6) Catherine (Switzerland), april 2009,
7) Linde, Ryanne and Cleo (Netherlands), July 2009,
8) Trike (once again... :-) ), May 2010,
9) Fabiana and Jonathan Fain (Italy & Israel), August 2010,
10) Rachel Agius (Malta), August 2010,
11) Ioana Florea (Romania) and Adriana (USA), September 2010,
12) Sijtje Jansen (Netherlands), October 2010,
13) Penny Johnson (US/Egypt), November 2010,
14) ...

Interests

Sports: preferably outdoors.

Another great quote on sports:
"We enjoy silent, human-powered sports done in nature, where the reward involves no audience and no prize other than hard-won grace. These entail risk, require soul and invite reflection. They bring us closer to the natural world and to ourselves." - Patagonia (ecological outdoor clothing brand)

Some sports in particular: fartlek, skiing (freeride, backcountry, alpine/downhill, ski de randonnée, you name it!), hiking, trekking, rock climbing, bouldering, tennis, trail running, volleyball, did I mention skiing?, ... well, I just really like (outdoor) sports I guess...

Further, traveling of course, playing guitar, vegetarianism/veganism, philosophy, going out for a beer, singing (when there's no one around), going out for more beers, reading, nature, ecology, photography, science, minimalism, physics, going out for way too many beers, math, computers, python, open source, Drupal, programming, linux, ubuntu, Debian, Crunchbang, openstreetmap and mapping in general,... you name it, and I'm interested!

  • dogs
  • photography
  • ethics
  • running
  • meditation
  • reading
  • traveling
  • bouldering
  • minimalism
  • outdoor activities
  • equestrian
  • hiking
  • surfing
  • sailing
  • skiing
  • trail running
  • atheism
  • sports
  • rock climbing
  • volleyball
  • computer science
  • ecology
  • mathematics
  • philosophy
  • physics
  • religion
  • science
  • solo travel
  • feminism
  • programming
  • rick and morty
  • backcountry skiing
  • slavoj zizek
  • aeon.co
  • metaphilosophy
  • gödel
  • qbism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: I like lots of movies, especially the smaller low-budget ones but I'll just name one, which still is my all-time favourite... 'Il Postino'.

Books: 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follet is still number one.

One book that changed the way I look at things is 'The Evolution of Cooperation' by Robert Axelrod. It is not a novel but VERY much worthwhile reading...

Music: from Abba to ZZ Top (though neither Abba nor ZZ Top)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

According to my mum: to watch me grow up without getting myself killed on several occasions...

According to my legs and feet: I managed to finish the 'dodentocht' (litterally 'trip of death') twice now, a 100km/24h-walk. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodentocht)

Teach, Learn, Share

Time for another quote, which I hope makes my religious point of view clear:
"Religion is the phase a species goes through when it becomes intelligent enough to ask deep questions, but not enough to answer them."

Apart from that I could learn you how to ski, but that's probably of little use when couchsurfing. I should really try that though: go on a couchsurfing skiing trip...
Ok, I want to learn: singing, (rock-)climbing, horseback riding, how to do handstands and how to meditate...

And if you could learn me how to smoke the pipe, that would be awesome too!

Oh, and if you consider yourself to be a religious person: you're especially welcome. My quote above, doesn't mean I don't find it interesting to think or talk about religion! Quite the contrary! :-)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Old School Badges

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