CURRENT MISSION

Send forth a tiny ripple of hope

ABOUT ME

Hi there. If Robert F. Kennedy is your political hero, if you like Boston Legal, West Wing, Star Trek DS9 & TNG and The Wire, if you love Lost in Translation, Crash and Fight Club, if you are addicted to going to the movies, if you love the Tour de France, if you know and like Sick of it All, NIN, REM, U2, Waltari, Queen and so on, if you ride a motor cycle (I have a Honda CBF600SA) and if you are even contemplating getting a pilot license (should I? should I?), and and and... well, travelling and making the world a better place... Well, then I'd like to meet you. Anywhere. The world is a small place.

PHILOSOPHY

It is better to strive for the impossible, than to have peace with the reachable.

My biggest political hero is Robert F. Kennedy. The way he fought for equal rights, against the war in Vietnam and especially against poverty was so incredibly inspiring to me. He was not afraid to stand up for his ideals. When asked by medical students at a university who would pay for healthcare proposals that would help poor communities, he pointed at the students and said: 'You, and you, and you...'. His moral courage, his words, his actions, are the driving force behind my own work in politics. His most inspiring words were spoken in 1966 in South Africa:
Each time a man stands up for an ideal
Or acts to improve the lot of others
Or strikes out against injustice
He sends forth a tiny ripple of hope
And crossing each other from a million
Different centers of energy and daring
Those ripples build a current that can sweep down
The mightiests walls of oppression and resistance.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am a big Couchsurfing fan. I am trying to spread the travelbug wherever I go, and I especially try to let the world know about Couchsurfing, which I think is the greatest thing that ever happened to the internet since imdb.com. ;)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I feel so ashamed to admit it, but I only found out about CS's existence in July 2007! And I have been on the internet since 1995... SORRY!!Anyhow, I caught up fast. I love the concept. Love the people and I hosted a girl from Germany literally 1 day after I subscribed. I then had my first surfing experience in Toronto, where I stayed at BritInTheWorld's place. Awesome experience!! And also in New Hampshire, Washington and New York in the first months, and later in 2008 I went on a couchsurfing roadtrip that took me to Sudbury, Sault-Ste Marie, Kenora, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, Kamloops, Kelowna, Seattle, Portales, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, Chicago, Memphis, Cleveland and many other places, not just in 2008, but also in the years that followed. Great hosts all around! The meetings are great as well. But seriously... I can't stress it enough: the people are SO nice. I love you all, CS'ers around the world! :)

Interests

I have too many interests. And I am passionate about all of them. Here's a list, in random order, of things I do and like. Under 'Movies, Music, Books' you can find info on those topics. 1. Robert F. Kennedy, my political hero. 2. Cycling (on my Cannondale Synapse!)3. Motorcycling (on my Honda CBF600SA, 13.200km since May 2011!)4. Ice (speed) skating5. Movies (sometimes more than a 100 movies in cinema per year. In 2011 I ended up seeing 150... and yes, that IS insane)6. Internet: I've been online since 1995. Very active on social media. Try to find me on Facebook and Twitter (@locuta) for example7. Traveling - 60 countries so far, including 25 in 2011!8. History, especially WWII9. Organizing - I organize everything. :)10. And a 1001 more things... :/

• writing
• books
• clubbing
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• surfing
• tour de france
• communications
• emergency services
• history
• law

Music, Movies, and Books

TV series: Boston Legal, Star Trek DS9 & TNG, West Wing, Sopranos, MASH, The Wire, The Pacific, Robin of Sherwood, Breaking Bad, MTV's Most Wanted (Ray Cokes!), Tour of Duty, Transformers, Blackadder, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Borgen, The Pacific, Generation Kill, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Absolutely Fabulous, The Wonder Years, Muppet Show, Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, Spin City, News Radio, ER, Expeditie Robinson, Frasier, South Park, Highlander, A-Team, Allo Allo, Top GearMovies: Lost in Translation, The Game, Fight Club, Crash, Donnie Darko, La Vie en Rose, Being John Malkovich, Truman Show, Man on the Moon, The Godfather, La vita e Bella, Requiem for a Dream, Hotel Rwanda, Indiana Jones, Memento, Underground, American Beauty, Der Untergang, Batman Begins, Blade Runner, Terminator II, Life of Brian, Casino, Stand By Me, The Stand, Groundhog Day, Thelma & Louise, Trainspotting, Into the Wild, Trouble The water, Young At Heart, Shake Hands With The Devil, Tarnation, Citizen X, Shaka Zulu, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Apocalypse Now, There Will Be Blood, American History X, Gattaca, Artificial Intelligence, Bobby, The Devil's Advocate, Cube, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Rat Race, Das Experiment, etc...Actors: Al Pacino, Sean Connery, George Clooney, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Martin Sheen, William H. Macy, Gary Sinise...Writers: Harry Mulisch, Douglas Adams, Stephen King, Roald DahlMusic: Sick Of It All, Waltari, R.E.M., U2, Sepultura, Radiohead, Pennywise, Heideroosjes, Gunshot, Life of Agony, Clannad, NIN, Heroes del Silencio, Queen, Arcade Fire, Rammstein, Muse, Thumb, David Bowie, Paul McCartney/The Beatles

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- David Bowie guided me onto stage while the Chemical Brothers were playing at Rock Werchter- I met Michael Gorbatsjov (Groningen), Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton (New York), Barack Obama (Washington DC), Michelle Obama (Denver), Joe Biden (Denver), Ethel Kennedy (Denver) and Robert Kennedy Jr (Denver).- I worked for Barack Obama at his national campaign headquarters in 2008 (and that's how I got to meet him and all the others mentioned above) :)- I bungeejumped 3 times- I skydived once- I lived in a house shaped like a cube for 7 years- I have seen child labor in the diamond mines of Sierra Leone- I travelled from Moscow to Beijing with the Transmongolia Express- I visited Bethlehem, the walled city in Palestinian territory- I saw 150 movies in cinema in 2011- I received a court order because I stepped over a barrier to get into Barack Obama's office. The police officer who gave me the summons was the same guy who moments before had told me I COULD step over the barrier (welcome to New York...)- I visited 60 countries- I found myself behind the scenes during the demise of DSB Bank. And ended up writing a book about it (I also wrote a book about the Obama campaign).2011: My -rather useless- goal for 2011 was to visit a foreign country at least once every calendar month. I wanted to visit at least 10 countries this year that I hadn't been to yet. And finally, the total of visited countries in 2011 had to exceed my record year, 2007, in which I visited 19 countries. I made it! Ended up with 25!

For 2012 I didn't have a lot of plans, since I was stuck at home with back problems. However, speed cycling for a week in Switzerland and Italy in June iwerestill on the agenda.

In 2013 I met Geert, in 2014 we got married and had our cute little daughter Thule. Now we're ready to hit the road again. I mean, come on, it's 2015 already.

Teach, Learn, Share

Some people see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not? (Robert F. Kennedy)

My motto: Het is beter te streven naar het onmogelijke, dan te berusten in het haalbare.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Venezuela

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, China, Netherlands, United States

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