CURRENT MISSION

Open up my world, meet new people, see new places, new experiences... predictability is boring ;)

ABOUT ME

My name is Ralph Lindsen. I'm 30 years old and make my living as a cameraman and other jobs involving film/video. I love to analog photography, film, play (bass)guitar, see bands (and interview them), meet interesting people, and just go and do something and see what happens. Like signing myself up for this site.

Also i love roadtripping! I roadtripped a lot in Spain, Australia and attempted to drive from the Netherlands to Barcelona, but my car broke down around Lyon. But that just meant the start of a new adventure.

PHILOSOPHY

It's hard to remember we're alive for the first time
It's hard to remember were alive for the last time
It's hard to remember to live before you die
It's hard to remember that our lives are such a short time
It's hard to remember when it takes such a long time

(Modest Mouse "lives")

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been hosting and surfing for years. It's still my favorite way of travelling and if I'm on my own or with a very small group I still do it regularly.

I live in an apartment in unpopular Hilversum, 20 minutes from Amsterdam and 15 minutes from Utrecht and mainly host friends and people who couldn't find a host in Amsterdam.

The majority of the people crashing at my place want to go to Amsterdam. But of course it would be even better to have a host IN Amsterdam instead of near. Don't get me wrong, you are still welcome, but if you are not willing to take a half hour to get to downtown Amsterdam, please do not request a couch! Too many people have cancelled or not shown up the last few months while i try to make some time for them when they arrive. Thanks!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My main couchsurf experience was in Australia where i was hosted in Newtown during my stay in Sydney, and it was everything i was hoping for. I met awesome people and spent my days doing things I wouldn't have done if i was at a hostel. I loved it.

The last extended stay was in Barcelona at Bart Pauly's place. It was the best 1,5 week of the year (the Primavera Festival helped, but still).

Interests

music
Analog photography
film
art
skateboarding
music
playing guitar
audiovisual media
playing bass guitar
music
playing drum (i suck, but nothing is more fun than beat the hell out of a drum kit)
meeting interesting/inspiring people

• arts
• photography
• festivals
• cars
• music
• guitar
• skateboarding
• communications

Music, Movies, and Books

music:
idles
girl band
fugazi
swans
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
mission of burma
animal collective
drive like jehu/hot snakes
smart went crazy
shellac/big black
sonic youth
nirvana
minutemen
mudhoney
medications
rites of spring
queens of the stone age
millionaire

film:
PT Anderson
Children of Men
The shorts and dobermann of Jan Kounen
Jean Pierre Jeunet
David Lynch
David Fincher
spike jonze
michael gondry
jem cohen
danny boyle

books:
our band could be your life

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I was the PR dude for a local skatepark. I designed and build the website, organized festivals, protests, media coverage, contests and represented the skateboard scene of my town (even though i'm not even that good at skating). It was an awesome time in my life, and the first time i experienced that with a bit of a yippeekayee attitude, you can get pretty far.

I've been to australia for two months filming and directing a mini-series about a dutch solar team (Nuon Solar Team) while they tried to win the World Solar Challenge, a 3000km race through the outback by solar powered cars. Here are the results: www.youtube.com/nuonsolarteam

After that i traveled a few weeks along the south and east coast sleeping in my van or couchsurfing.

Teach, Learn, Share

As i said i'm into audiovisual media and i absolutely love music (especially underground artists). I also interview and film them. I do a lot of analog photography. Oh, and i play guitar. I also skateboard very irregularly.

So if you are interested in anything like this, i might be able to help you...

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands