Marcel

Travel information

I am currently

Description

I am an adventurous and open-minded person from Aotearoa New Zealand, here in Belgium on a one year working holiday visa. I have travelled internationally for literally as long as I can remember, (~20 countries and counting) having lived and been brought up in both the Unites States and New Zealand. Between the ages of 6-14 I travelled back and forth between NZ and USA every 6 months, due to my parents living in different countries. So, I have always enjoyed learning about different peoples and cultures, and I am planning to spend the next 4 years doing Working Holiday Visas in Europe, as well as South America and maybe Asia.

I am a non-binary person who graduated 2 years of fashion school and am ideally seeking a job in the fashion industry. I'm a bit more on the introverted side, but I value more communal living, and enjoy meaningful discussions and company of others. In my free time some of my favourite things to do includes exploring nature and urban environments, get involved with left-wing political activism and projects, be a part of a variety of musical sub-cultures, (mostly punk, metal, goth, techno, and psytrance, but I enjoy a large variety of music) create visual artworks, spend time with animals, and occasionally videogames.

I love sharing stories about culture and travel - Last year for example I travelled around Southeast Asia for 5 months, mostly solo. Some of my more adventurous activities included hitchhiking numerous times, learning to drive a scooter for the first time in Vietnam, visiting regions where I saw no other foreign tourists for a week and couldn't find any information about online, freedom-camping in a hammock on the top of a mountain and in a coffee plantation, mapping out routes down dirt roads that don't exist on Google Maps to unnamed villages in Laos, driving through burning forests, visiting slums in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand, exploring gorgeous temples with nobody else around, exploring abandoned Khmer Rouge military bases... You get the idea.

Interests

Events & social

Pets

Politics / Social justice

LGBTQ

Sustainability

Vegetarian or vegan

Fashion or beauty

Van life

Movies & TV

Charity work

Performing arts

Architecture

DIY & crafts

Music

History

Art & design

Cooking & food

Photography

Hitchhiking

Drawing & painting

Animals

Yoga / Wellness

Nature

Camping

Dancing

Mountain

Outdoor activities

Hiking

Cycling

Adventure sports

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
Dutch: Beginner

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Charity Work

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

General Maintenance

House and pet sitting

Life at a Farmstay

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

Hospitality/Tourism

Helping with Computers/ Internet

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Able to teach about:  

Art Projects

More details about your skills

- I have a 2 year degree in Fashion Technology, Apparel Production, and Pattermaking, as well as 6 months experience as a tailor and 3 months experience as a cobbler. If you have a sewing machine I would be happy to teach you sewing, or do repairs and alterations on your clothes!
- I'm a very artistic person, with my main strong suits being clothing, leatherwork, makeup, interior decoration, and some painting. Anything that I don't know, I'd love to learn!
- 4 years experience as a barista, as well as some experience with bartending
- 2 years experience with corporate cleaning and catering
- Some experience with gardening, but mostly more basic things like weeding and pruning
- I'm a pretty good cook! I am vegan myself, but I'm ok with cooking vegetarian. I'm not comfortable with cooking meat, but I don't mind if people eat meat around me. I don't know a lot of recipes off by heart, but I have been told I have a good sense of taste - Like many things in life, I generally like strong flavours with depth and complexity.
- Solid ability with computers, I've built my own desktop PC 3 times... And spent way too much time on the computer when I was a kid.
- Travel planning. I have considered looking into this as a career, so if you'd like help with research or planning travel then I'd be happy to help. I have a knack for finding off the beaten trail locations, mapping out scenic driving routes, and more rugged, off the beaten trail style of travelling.

Age

26

What else ...

I am currently seeking a place where I can temporarily register domicile in Belgium. Despite already having a Working Holiday Visa that I paid ~€1,500 for, I still need to get a residency card in order to legally work in Belgium, and a hostel is not a valid address. I have been looking for alternatives, but so far it seems that my only valid options are to pay thousands of € in rent and living expenses while I am unable to be employed, or find a Workaway opportunity with a host that would be comfortable with me registering domicile and staying for however long it may take for the police to come verify my address. I have consistently been told that this process normally takes about a month, with the longest wait being 3 months.

Once I have registered domicile and attained the residency card, I intend to move out as soon as possible and rent a flat, (probably in Ghent) where I will register a new domicile.

I understand that this may be a bit of a risk for the host, so I am absolutely happy to discuss this with you (and we could write up a contract, if you prefer) before agreeing to anything.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements
  Vegan, but I am ok with compromising at vegetarian while I am travelling.