I’m Ivan Michael Koenig from Switzerland

CURRENT MISSION

Over the last few years (since 2017) I have been cycling across Europe - What a joy to discover more and more of the old continent and it's people...!!

ABOUT ME

But it's more than just going for a wild joy ride..! The purpose is a quest for understanding, an attempt to measure the pulse and to see what's going on in our societies and our hearts - to feel where the shoe is pinching and what are our common dreams, fears and demons. To understand why we are getting everywhere more and more polarized, losing our balance, losing our sisters and brothers - that's all that counts.

Since my studies in International Relations and European Economics I have been working on Climate Change issues, where I worked in the last years for the Ministry of Energy in Switzerland. It's been fascinating to contribute to this generational effort, but I decided to make a cut and to dedicate my time to traveling and to priorities personally growth issues (Psychology/ Philosophy). I think it' exciting and stimulating on a personal level, but furthermore I believe our societies need it now more than ever - and we are running short on time.

For me living in the great outdoors is essential but in recent years I spend about half of my time in European capitals -- with Berlin being sort of my second home base.

Before all this my greatest trip was a two years journey by tandem bike with Jini - from Lisbon towards India (where we lived one year). This trip brought us across Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East (Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine) and parts of East Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania ...totalizing 34 countries...around 20 000km over land.

Places lived: Paris, London, Berlin, Lyon, Cologne, Geneva, Brugge, Bern, US, India, Zürich.

PHILOSOPHY...

Life is too important to be taken seriously.
Oscar Wild

Life, if well lived is long enough.
Seneca

When the time has come in which one could, time has passed in one can.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

There is only one journey. Going inside yourself.
Rainer Maria Rilke

The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.
Saint- Exupery

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin
It's the only really authentic way of traveling....:)

Interest:

-global politics/ international affairs
-civil society building/ democratization process
-sustainability
-philosophical practice
-emotional intelligence
-long distance traveling

literature yoga sustainability climate change indie films green energy international politics political philosophy
Musik, Filme und Bücher
Recent favorite movies:

Dogman (Matteo Garrone, Italy, 2018)
Mother (Bong Joon Ho, South Korea, 2009)
La Grande Bellezza (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2013)
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Céline Sciamma, France, 2019)
Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, South Korea, 2019)
On Body and Soul (Ildikó Enyedi, Hungary, 2017)
Systemsprenger (Nora Fingscheidt, Germany, 2019)
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia, 2017)
The edge of Democracy (Petra Costa, Brazil, 2019)
Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia, 2014)

recent books:

Alain de Botton - The School of Life: An Emotional Education
Anaïs Nin - Jounal
Thich Nhat Hanh - The Art of Communicating
Sue Johnson - Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships
Eva Illouz - Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender - David R. Hawkins
Eckhart Tolle - A new Earth

Music: recent discoveries or re-discoveries

MØ, Alice Phoebe Lou, Laura Veirs, Joceyn Pook, The Album Leaf, Bahari, Vök, Leah Song, Me and my drummer, Jim Kroft, Low, Jain, Bornes, Oh Wonder, Cigarettes after Sex, ...



Memories of travels:

-marveling at "bioluminescent plankton" in Providencia (Colombian Caribbean)
-staying with the Hummer tribes in Southern Ethiopia
-cycling at 50C through the Nubian desert, Northern Sudan
-sleeping the whole week on the beach in Zanzibar
-living in the streets of London in a Camper van for 15 months.
-cycling the "Via Francigena" pilgrim path through Toscany, Italy...divine nature.
-Spending a whole winter in Rome.
-spending three nights with tribal peoples high up in the mountains of Northern Laos.

-hitch hiking probably more than 60 000 km - a good school of life.


Coutries traveled:

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries lived in:
Belgium, France, Germany, India, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States