Ramon Stoppelenburg
Ramon Stoppelenburg (born in Leiden, December 20, 1976) is a world traveler and a Dutch author, currently residing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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[edit] Education
After going through high school in Rotterdam he studied journalism at the Christelijke Hogeschool Windesheim in Zwolle. During his study he initiated in 1998 with friends the student magazine SMOEL (which meant Face or Open Mouth in Dutch). With the online website Stoppelenburg was one of the first Dutch bloggers.
[edit] Letmestayforaday
In the beginning of 2001 he started the website www.letmestayforaday.com. By using the internet for requesting a place to stay and help with food and drinks, he received 3,577 invitations from 77 countries. In exchange for the given hospitality he wrote an extensive daily report on his website before hitchhiking to his following location. The travels took Stoppelenburg through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, South Africa, Spain, Australia and Canada. Coverage by international media[1][2] and the number of visitors to the website allowed Stoppelenburg to have everything sponsored: his website, clothing, camera, backpack, shoes and even his airline tickets.
[edit] Travels and book
During his travels he also wrote weekly chronicles in the Dutch newspaper Sp!ts and had weekly calls by the Dutch radio station 3FM about his latest adventures on the road. After 22 months of travelling[3] he had had enough of it and decided to end the project. He rejected an invitation to be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003 as he was not travelling through the USA at that moment.[4]
Back in The Netherlands he wrote a book named Letmestayforaday, around the world for free (2004, published by Nijgh & Van Ditmar, Amsterdam). In that same year he became the host of the travel show Weg Met BNN on Dutch Radio 1.
Stoppelenburg is currently working on an English translation of his book. He is a full time freelancer in marketing, tour operator and life coach. As a literary compiler he created an anthology about flying, named Fasten Your Seat Belt! containing new literary works of twenty young Dutch authors. Next to this he is a travel writer and photographer for The Travel Channel and various travel magazines.
Stoppelenburg has been working for TNT, Stork, DHL, TNO, Max Models, Glamour Magazine, Club Sportive, Nashuatec, Ocult, TakeCarenow!, National Toneel, Mouria Publishers, Sony Netherlands, HCC, Askja Travels, Judith Visser, Martin Brester, Simyo, Teleac, Tirza, Bouwmaat, Romae, UWV, Radio 1 and BNN.
Since June 2008 he has been running Expedition Kilimanjaro [1], a tour company focusing on summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
In November 2009 he was one of the guest speakers[2] at the 1st World Blogging Forum at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania.
He has moved from The Netherlands [3] to Cambodia in September 2010 and currently resides in Phnom Penh, where he runs the local western-orientated cinema[5] since April 2011.
[edit] Model
In the Netherlands he was a commercial model, appearing in advertisements, magazines and television and theater commercials. In October 2009 he became the face of the Dutch car repair chain FOCWA Autoschade.
[edit] Bibliography
- 2004 - Letmestayforaday, travel stories, Nijgh & Van Ditmar publishing, Amsterdam, ISBN 9041350527
- 2008 - Fasten your seat belt, Dutch travel anthology (compiler), Foreign Media Books, Amsterdam
[edit] Awards
- 2002 - Internet Personality of the Year, by the British Sunday Times.
- 2008 - The Godfather of Couchsurfing, by Travel Channel's blog Worldhum.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Leela Jacinto (2001-03-23). "Cyber-Begging Bags Man a World Wide Bed. Hitchhiker Begs for a Bed on the Internet". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81359&page=1.
- ^ A.S. Berman (2002-02-06). "Traveler hitches a ride on the World Wide Web". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/2001-05-03-net-interest.htm.
- ^ Derrico, K.. Virtual Miracles, 40 stories of Love, Courage and the Amazing Kindness of Strangers. Sourcebooks Inc. pp. 91.
- ^ Stoppelenburg, Ramon. Letmestayforaday, around the world for free. Nijgh & Van Ditmar. pp. 316.
- ^ Gabi Yetter (2012-05-12). "Ramon Flicks the Switch on Phnom Penh movies". Expat-Advisory. http://www.expat-advisory.com/articles/southeast-asia/cambodia/ramon-flicks-switch-phnom-penh-movies.
- ^ Michael Yessis (2009-01-09). "The Godfather of Couchsurfing". Worldhum. http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-interviews/interview-with-ramon-stoppelenburg-the-godfather-of-couchsurfing-20090122/.
[edit] External links
- Letmestayforaday.com The official website
- Ramon Stoppelenburg personal blog
