FEMINIST, VEGAN, ANTI-RACISM 🌈

Hey guys 🌻

I am Niko, which comes from the German name of Santa Claus 🎅. I grew up in Saarbrücken, a small town close to France, and studied Anthropology and Languages and Cultures of the Islamic World in Köln. I also lived in Türkiye for more than a year and learnt quite a bit of Turkish 🇹🇷.

I am very spontaneous (maybe a bit too much 🦭) and very curious, I love traveling and learning about people's lives. So far, all my CS meetings have been amazing and often turned in long-lasting friendships. I am super-flexible and adaptable, so I am mostly comfortable with any situation 🤸. I used to smoke weed everyday, but I haven't used weed, cigarettes or alcohol for almost half a year now (and I am still fun!) 👮.

My mission for this year is to gain more experience working as a journalist. I wanted to move to Beirut in March of 2026 but had to change my plans due to the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on 🇮🇷. So instead, I want to go to Kurdistan / eastern Turkey and work as a journalist from there. I will publish my research on social media mostly 🕊️.

I have been interested in journalism and the WANA region for a long time. While living and traveling in Turkey, Iran, Kurdistan, Morocco, and Oman, I met so many good people and felt frustrated that their stories are not told in our media. That's how I decided that I want to be a foreign journalist 🦥📝.

My goal is to talk to people, to learn about their experiences and their stories and to understand different perspectives. I believe that I can learn from everyone that I talk to and I want to understand how you see the world 🗺️.

My biggest passion is - you guessed it- traveling. Other than that, I really enjoy cooking, my friends always suggest that I should get my own cooking show 🐒. Unfortunately, in the last two years, I didn't have my own kitchen and I miss it to much. I have been (mostly) vegan for five years and I am very happy to share advice and good recipes 🐋.

I also like reading and I am interested in many different topics: Anthropology, languages and linguistics, intersectional feminism, animals, (geo)politics, and human rights 🧩.

I also love nature and outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, biking and swimming. I love ice bathing, and I like lakes and mountains much more than the sea ⛰️.

I love german oldschool hip hop 🎤.

My number: +49 1578 1772246

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Some of my best travel experiences have been through CS. Meeting local people and getting a glimpse into their life has always been the most interesting thing for me. I think there's no better way to do this than Couchsurfing🥳.

Especially in Iran, I really appreciated CS so much. Most of the interesting things there were مخفى (= secret), and only CS allowed me to learn about them 🍀.

Interests

• animals
• books
• cooking
• vegan
• reading
• hiking
• sports
• anthropology
• philosophy
• sociology
• nature
• feminism
• weed
• rap
• antropology
• hip-hop
• evolution
• ice bathing

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't really like to watch movies or series, but I love reading 📚.

Some of my favorite authors are Walter Moers, Stefan Zweig, and Hermann Hesse. My favorite books might be Shantaram, The Museum of Innocence and The Island of a Thousand Lighthouses 🌪️.

I also track my reading on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/155798340?shelf=read ✒️.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Falling and staying in love, sharing my life and making a beautiful relationship work (until it didn't) ❤️

Swimming in bioluminiscent sea water on Hormuz island and in Oman ✨

Getting drunk on a Roma wedding in Turkey 🕺

My best experiences came out of nowhere. If you don't plan too much, life awards you with some crazy surprises! I trust that there is always a way and if one door closes, two others will open soon ☀️!

Teach, Learn, Share

I want to improve my Turkish and Arabic and I would love to learn Kurdish as well 🗨️.

I am quite a good German teacher and would love to teach you 🇩🇪.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am very spontaneous. I would love cook some delicious vegan food for you, I have lots of funny and adventurous stories to tell, I am always down for doing crazy stuff, and I like to help with German 🐋.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, India, Iran, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Turkey