Marine & Marijn

Travel information

We are currently

Description

Hi ! We are a french-dutch couple that met while traveling a few years ago. During this trip, we both visited New Zealand, and left the country with a new dream in our mind : coming back for a longer stay at Aotearoa.
After some time in Europe in our home-countries, we are ready to go on this new advenure together. So we left homes and jobs, and hopped on the plane in October, for at least one year for New Zealand.

About Marine : always positive, curious and up for new adventures, I really love to meet, learn, discover and share. Nature fascinates me and I like to explore new landscapes. Since my 19 years old, I have a passion for travelling and especially for meeting : other cultures are other environments. I explored lots of countries in Europe by Interralling, and I also had the chance to go to Japan, Norway, Iceland, or Cameroon, where I helped 7 years project of schoolbuilding in a small village in the mountains - an extraordinary and timeless experience.
In september 2023, I started the biggest journey of my life : 10 months of travels around the world. I started it in New Zealand for 3 months, and explored South East Asia for another 6 months. That's where I unexpectedly met Marijn. Our lifepaths crossed, and never left each other ;)

About Marijn : I’m a social and open-minded 28 year old guy from The Netherlands. In 2024 I travelled around the world for a year, including New Zealand for a month. I’m so excited to come back for longer this time. I’ve always been fascinated by “the other, the unknown” and curious to know where someone comes from, why they do what they do and what we can learn from each other. The same goes for exploring places and cultures I don’t know much about yet. Sharing open, genuine conversations and experiences with others fills me with joy and fulfillment. In my spare time I love to be outside in nature, especially in mountainous areas, with or without people. Going for hikes, picknicks or simply riding my motorcycle.

In summary, we are curious, positive and openminded. We love nature, travelling, learning new things, meeting and connecting with people. For this year in New Zealand, we are open to any time of experience : we would love to learn, help and connect.
Looking forward to share some times with you !

Interests

Art & design

Animals

Writing

Events & social

Van life

Adventure sports

Plant care

Music

Hiking

Nature

Books

Mountain

Gardening

Drawing & painting

Sustainability

Dancing

Culture

Camping

Charity work

DIY & crafts

Performing arts

Outdoor activities

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent

More details about my language interests
Marine is a primary school teacher. She worked during 5 years with children between 3 and 10 years old. During the year she lived in the Netherlands, she was teaching french on the side of her main job.

Find a language partner

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

Charity Work

Creative DIY projects

Animal Care

Life at a Farmstay

Hospitality/Tourism

---

Some knowledge of:  

Art Projects

Eco Projects

Light gardening

Babysitting and creative play

House & pet sitting

---

Able to teach about:  

Languages

Teaching

More details about your skills

Marine : I am a school teacher in France and was summer camp leader when I was younger : so I'm quite good with kids of all ages and I like to spend time with them. I also love teaching.
Otherwise, I really like social contact : connecting and sharing with other people, and I speak english quite fluently.
During my year of travelling, I could experience a lot of different jobs and volunteerings : I worked in a hostel, a diving shop, and also in two permaculture farms, where I got me some basic knowledge of gardening and plant cultivation.
Last year in the Netherlands, I've worked as assistant manager in a escape room, which was also a bar and kitchen. So I have a solid experience in working in hospitality.
Finally, I'm curious by nature, flexible and very invested, and would be glad to help with any tasks, manual or not, and to learn new things !

Marijn : My current profession and degrees are in Social Work, where I worked with teenagers before and the last few years as a Community Developer/Community Builder. This is a job I enjoyed a lot, helping communities help themselves and each other. Making a small part of the world a better place with the people there. Here I became competent in working with different cultures as well as the English language. Until my 22nd I had a lot of different jobs next to school, mostly in retail and shops but I also helped servicing and cleaning trucks for a few years. I’m open to try anything. Quite a few uncles and aunts are farmers and in the summer holidays I always used to help on their farms for a few weeks, driving tractors, tending to the fields and cows, feeding them and using a front loader to move stuff around. In summary I love working with humans, animals and am also very keen to do any task that needs to be done.

Age

26 & 28

Some more information

• 

  Smoker

• 

  Driver's licence

• 

  Allergies

• 

  Special dietary requirements
  Marine doesn't eat meat.