I am a solo female traveler from Amersfoort, The Netherlands🇳🇱

Although I created a couchsurfing profile several years ago I just recently purchased a subscription for one year. That is why I still don’t have any reviews or experience with couchsurfing (but ofcourse I hope to gain couchsurfing experience soon).

My name is Laura van Beek and I am 25 years old. I recently have finished my 2 master’s degrees at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: accounting & control and fiscal law. During the past 5 years I have tried to find some balance between studying, working and traveling. I have visited my 50th country (Belarus) in April this year, it is my goal to visit all 51 countries in Europe before my 30th birthday (right now I have visited 40/51). I have planned to travel fulltime in the next few months before I start with my first fulltime ‘adult’ job at February 1 2026. In the future I hope to combine my career in accounting and/or tax with traveling.

When I was younger, I mainly went camping in Western Europe with my parents and sister, but we also went to Africa and the Middle East a few times. When I started solo traveling, I developed my interest in Eastern-Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union (I have already visited 12/15 Post Soviet countries). This is partly because I found history a very interesting subject in high school.

Fun fact: As you can see, there's a white cat sitting with me on my profile picture. His name is Habibi and I have adopted him from Jordan.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Although in the past I have traveled with my family as well as with friends, I discovered that solo traveling is the best way to get in touch with locals. I hope that couchsurfing will make it even easier to get in touch with locals.

Interests

Meeting people from all over the world and share about each other’s cultures!

• animals
• cats
• cooking
• wine
• hiking
• history
• mountains
• food
• soviet union

Music, Movies, and Books

The Beatles

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I did a 3 day hike in Kyrgyzstan two times, to lake Song Kul and to lake Ala Kul. Along the way I slept in yurts with local families, it was at that moment that I realized that meeting local people is the best part of traveling.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you about Dutch language, culture and food. But as I study fiscal law, I can also help you with your Dutch income tax ;)
I would also like to tell you about my travel adventures as a solo female traveler who has been to some out of the ordinary countries.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Besides my studies, I have been working for almost 8 years as a student job in a meeting and conference center. Here I gained a lot of experience in preparing meals, also for large groups. I would like to cook a traditional Dutch meal for my couchsurfing host!
And of course I can also help with household chores.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Botswana, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands