On October 12th there is the Zukunftsentscheid in Hamburg and I’m here to support it and mobilise as many people to do so alongside me.
Information events, distributing, flyers, and especially knocking on doors where I already had a couple of really wholesome conversations.
I believe that the couchsurfing spirit can really very much help here ☺️

(Thé following still says à lot about me but is a little outdated)
Before starting a new study in October I’m taking a little over two months to travel along the French coast (Mediterranean and Atlantic).
I really enjoy slow travel, while meeting people who actually live there. So far I have only done that, visiting friends (mostly across Germany) I already knew. So I am both really excited and tbh a little bit nervous to do Couchsurfing. My first CS experience was really good though and I am generally really comfortable with meeting and getting to know new people.
I love cooking (vegan) with or for others so you can be sure to enjoy new dishes if you’re interested. If you do sports (especially Volleyball or Roundnet) I’m very happy to join and apart from that I am really interested in others view on politics and their ideas on how we can help make society work well.

Oh also, I now finally found a Roundnet (Spikeball) set in Marseille after searching for more than a week in Italy and France.
So, if you’re up for a round while I’m around, let me know and I’m sure we can arrange a game. In case you’ve never tried it before (first of all it’s super fun!!!!!1!11!), I am very happy to show you how to play.
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This section is for the negative reviews that I received.
I don’t really know if it’s a good idea, that this is what potential hosts see first, but I wanted to find a way to reply with messages longer than 259 letters, because otherwise I’d either have to leave out relevant context, what I learned after having read the review or a decent way of addressing the person.

Reply to Ada Rastelli, June 2025

Hey Ada,
Thank you for your honest review. It sure made me think.
You’re right, after I offered to cook dinner, I could (and maybe should?) have put more effort into making my ideas better compatible with the food you like. Because that didn’t work well, I was especially glad that I could help you in the garden to return at least some of the favour, when you asked, because you couldn’t find a gardener until now.
Also I’ll take away from your review, that I’ll every time talk more explicitly about how my hosts would like to share expenses.
Overall I am really sorry, that I didn’t notice how unhappy you felt about how the stay went.
Maybe I can make it up to you in some way.
Nevertheless, I wish you all the best, am still glad for having met you, our conversations and the time we spent together.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

So far when travelling I very often had the feeling that I didn’t really get to know the place because I only had the “touristy” view as I/we mostly stayed in Hostels or Apartments with some but little interaction with locals. So when I heard that Couchsurfing was a thing I was all ears and now that I have the opportunity to again spend quite some time travelling I’m excited to get to know the CS community and my hosts places, towns, cities.
Also, on another level, I think that concepts like CS might be a little bit of an antidote to nationalist trends, helping build cross-border understanding and friendships.

Interests

Sports, travelling, reading, organisational culture, sustainability

• hiking
• sports
• volleyball
• lacrosse
• kitesurfing
• vegan food
• vegetarian cooking
• roundnet

Music, Movies, and Books

I prefer listening to music and reading books over watching a movie. In the last couple months I’ve been listening more and more to French music which I already liked a lot before (some examples: L.E.J., Ben Mazué, Eddy de Pretto). German musicians I really like are Provinz, Paula Hartmann, JPD, AnnenMayKantereit, Nura. Just to name a few.
When I read it is often historical fiction like Ken Follett or Jan Guillou (a Swedish author who wrote a series about three Norwegian brothers studying engineering in pre First World War Germany and later on building bridges and other infrastructure in Norway and other countries across time up until after WW2).
Other authors (different genres) that come to mind are Yuval Harari and Marc Elsberg.
A book that I read recently that I would highly recommend is Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina documenting what goes on in the high seas and which in many parts reads like a thriller. (Disclaimer: You may end up eating less fish and buy less goods from abroad.)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

After graduation I spent six weeks with one of my best friends travelling through British Columbia (Canada) in a pretty rundown camper.
I loved the interactions with the people we met and the nature there is simply amazing.

You’ll have to actively stop me from talking once you have me started remembering those six weeks.

For example in 105 mile house while making a stop and playing a round of chess at a lake we met a couple, talked a while (the husband giving us tips on how to improve our game) and in the end got invited to stay at their place overnight. Since then almost every time I play chess, I think of them.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am quite confident to say that I am a good vegan cook and I am very much enjoy cooking either with or for my host.
If you enjoy evening talks about basically anything I’m all in and apart from that I’m a sports lover so I’ll be very happy to join.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Tanzania, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Germany, New Zealand