Olivier and Sven goofing around in Asia

Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die today

             Some interesting information on Olivier 

 

  • Full name: Olivier Van Puyvelde 
  • Date of birth: April 10th 1976
  • Education: Communication Sciences
  • Job: Sales Representative in the Bakery business (soon to be finished)
  • Languages: Dutch, English, French, a bit of German and Spanish, and perfect Swahili after a few Trappist beers ;-)
  • Favourite food: Chateau Briand with Roquefort sauce and true Belgian fries!
  • Favourite drink: Rochefort Number 8 and Chimay Blue, two Belgian Trappist Beers. Also love Duvel (another Belgian beer) and Mojito's!
  • Favourite movies: I'm a real movie buff and I have a tick for independent movies and documentaries. I love all movies by the genius Stanley Kubrick. My favourite series is Six Feet Under. Other directors I really like : Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, Terrence Malick, Christopher Nolan, Zhang Yimou, Hayao Miyazaki, Guillermo Del Toro, Shane Meadows and Ridley Scott.
  • Favourite music: Depending on the mood I'm in, I can enjoy different kinds of music. My favourite is Gothic Metal though, in particular the better bands with beautiful female voices and a lot of melody : Nightwish, Epica, After Forever, Therion, ... just to name a few! I'm a big fan of power metal band Sabaton as well.
  • Most memorable travel experience(s): Hiking in Mount Robson National Park in Canada, celebrating New Year's Eve with a Russian family in Moscow, karaoke in Tokyo with lots of friends, surfing Hedi's couch in Estonia, road trip in the Balkans with Rolf (all the way to Montenegro).
  • Dream destination(s): New Zealand, Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, South Africa
  • Website: You can watch my pictures on my personal Flickr account
  • Interests:
  • traveling, different countries and cultures - In German language they have a very beautiful word called "wanderlust" ... well, this definitely applies to me. I started traveling alone at the age of 16 and it has always been one of my biggest passions ever since. Despite the fact that I like to be in Belgium as well, it always starts to feel strange if I don't travel for a long time. I mean, there are so many beautiful places and wonderful people to encounter in our world, and I think that traveling is one of the best ways to enrich your life. I don't like hotels and stuff, I always try to stay with locals because this gives you a good chance to experience life as they live it, and that gives you some unique experiences.
  • nature, adventure - The outdoors is without any doubt my favourite habitat. Spending some time in nature makes me relax and feel alive ; not just be in peace with yourself but also with the wondrous fauna & flora around you. I just love long hikes in National Parks or in the mountains. I'm crazy about other adventurous sports as well such as mountain biking, wild water rafting, and stuff like that. Would love to take a diving course in Asia too.
  • music - let's put it very simply : I just can't live without music. I need music in the morning, music in the afternoon and music in the evening. When I travel abroad, I always spend a lot of time in record stores to look for local music that I like. Music tells a lot about the people. I really enjoy live music too, I go to concerts and festivals pretty often. That's definitely one thing that I will miss in Asia ... Belgium is a small country but it's paradise for music lovers like me!
  • meeting people - feeling lonely is something that I don't know ... I need to have company as much as possible, and I take every opportunity to meet new people as well. It's my opinion that everyone has an interesting story to share, and I will be glad to listen to that. Sometimes you don't even have to speak the same language in order to understand each other ; this really fascinates me. 
  • food & drinks - oh well, I'm a Belgian and I like the "Bourgondian way of life" ... being a true Belgian I love beers, chocolates and of course the Belgian fries. I love to experiment in the kitchen as well. Whenever I travel, I just love it to discover the local food as well, especially when it's being prepared by a local family and not just mass-produced by a local food chain or tourist restaurant. For example, I will never forget my trip to Moscow when I celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve with a Russian family. I had some typical Russian food and also tasted (a little bit too much) the local drink, I think it was called Wodka or something ;-)