Hans

Travel information

I am currently

Description

Hi everyone!

I'm Hans, a positive minded Belgian guy, born and raised in the city of Ghent.

Every time I went backpacking, I gradually felt that I wanted to travel more authentically by genuinely connecting to places and cultures in an immersive way. While seeing amazing new highlights, places and doing activities is great.. Constantly going from one place to the next all the time became somewhat void after a while. Whereby something felt missing if there weren't any real connections with my surroundings, local people and learning opportunities to create a much more fulfilling and lasting feeling. I love how slow-travel enables such a variety of valuable experiences and gives purpose to what I'm doing. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone at times. I'm using this platform to learn, grow and give back. Personal growth became an important part of traveling for me.

There's a lot you're capable of doing and everyone has so many hidden talents! The journey is the destination.

Before starting this gap-year, I've worked three full-time jobs at different printing companies, mainly as an all-round operator in post-press. My last position included production planning and management as well, so I'm used to handling people and situations. Besides this, I really enjoyed doing side jobs as a commercial model, gardening, doing chores for acqaintances and as an assistant cook at private events with a friend of mine who has a small catering business.

Maintaining high integrity and kindness towards people, situations and work is a basic mindset here.. Hoping to keep my environment happy with my presence and contribution :)

I'm a flexible person to work with, looking for ways to get along smoothly and make things work.

After helping out a lot with renovating our Yoga and meditation centre in Ghent, I got very interested in learning craft skills. It gives a great feeling to know how to get things done with my hands. This could be carpentry/furniture making, DIY things, building with natural materials, farm work, repairing stuff, masonry, tiling, etc.. I'm very eager to learn on many fields.

With being a little more drawn towards further learning about woodwork and building in general, homesteading, ecofarming, (permaculture) landscape design and seriously improving my cooking/baking skills.

When profiles of homesteaders pass by, it really sparks a desire in me to have the skills to plan, build and maintain projects like that myself.
And all the know-how on many fields that it requires.
In our fast-paced society it's important to connect with ourselves, the people around us and nature again. In Belgium I lived at a friend's place that's connected to a large garden and small community field where I could support, help organize and also take part in creating a beautiful space where all kinds of conscious events and workshops could take place. With regular dance evenings, ceremonial gatherings, healing bodywork, yoga/meditation, any theme involving personal growth, silent retreats, etc.. being held, I have some experience in this area and will always love to share about. As well as all the gardening (composting, raising beds, planting/harvesting, weeding, rotation planning), building an outdoor sauna and taking care of the ornamental flowers and bushes everywhere to keep the place harmonious and clean.

From a young age having always wondered about life and it's purpose, a search for truth and awareness led me to Buddhism and Yoga. Liking these paths the most because of the rather simple and less religious/dogmatic ways of practice. But I've always enjoyed learning about all the different practices and teachings that can provide insights and understanding. All types of useful Spirituality interest me. Living a yogic way of life, I keep a daily meditation practice.

Besides all of this, I'm a genuine foodie as well :) Hoping to make cooking a part of my travels. It's no big task for me to play around in the kitchen. And certainly not when I can learn new recipes.. Feel absolutely free to ask me!

I'm really passionate about food in general. And not just the cooking and eating part, but also to research about nutrition and how food affects the body. To know what's in our food and the biochemical things behind it.

Let's have a wonderful exchange together!

Warm greetings

Hans

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I can teach Dutch, as It's my mother tongue. Fluent in English.

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

General Maintenance

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Languages

Hospitality/Tourism

Being an elderly companion

Charity Work

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Some knowledge of:  

Life at a Farmstay

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

Eco Projects

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Able to teach about:  

Gardening

More details about your skills

- Gardens and kitchens aren't unfamiliar to me.

- If you're interested: I can teach you the basic postures of classical Hatha Yoga.
And I've been playing tennis for years on a weekly basis, so you can learn how to hit a ball
with me :)

- I've held more than one tool in my hands before, and I'm a quick learner in technical work.

- Having good visual/spatial insight, I'm really efficient in organizing spaces and
As well as managing work flow, 'seeing' what needs to be done and creating solutions.

- As for personality traits: I would say I'm always very positive and won't easily give up on any outcome. We'll get it done :)

Age

31

What else ...

I suppose you might categorise me as almost having OCD symptoms when it comes to tidyness ;) I'm very attentive towards cleanliness and keeping things neat.
Well.. Keeping stuff in order and cleaning up is a satisfying job, isn't it?

In my hometown, I enjoyed volunteering as a buddy to help refugees and newcomers integrate in our society.

There are a lot of NGO's out there, and I know some of them aren't always effective or efficient. Sometimes even doing more harm than good. If you happen to know more about decent organisations and local initiatives, I'm all ears..

In terms of creativity: I got a feel for rhythm and really should get back behind my drums to practice! It's a bit of a shame I don't play enough. If you're a musician, pull my sleeve! :) Oh, and It'd be awesome if someone could show me how to shoot and edit decent photo's and videos as well. Or using design programs like sketch-up for furniture making and woodwork.

A few years ago ago I became very curious about Astrology. It's very extensive and complex, so bit by bit I'm trying to get a grip on what's going on in the skies and how it affects your being and the world around us.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  Arrogance and rudeness

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  Special dietary requirements
  Preferably the veggie cuisine, but I'm a flexitarian.