Ramon Stoppelenburg

Ramon Stoppelenburg (born in Leiden, December 20 1976) is a world traveler and a Dutch author.

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. With the online website Stoppelenburg was one of the first Dutch bloggers.

Letmestayforaday

In the beginning of 2001 he started the website [http://www.letmestayforaday.com 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, Schotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, South Africa, Spain, Australia and Canada. Coverage by international media [cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81359&page=1|title=Cyber-Begging Bags Man a World Wide Bed. Hitchhiker Begs for a Bed on the Internet|author=Leela Jacinto|publisher=ABC News|date=2001-03-23] [cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/2001-05-03-net-interest.htm|title=Traveler hitches a ride on the World Wide Web|author=A.S. Berman|publisher=USA Today|date=2002-02-06] 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.

Travels and book

During his travels he also wrote a weekly chronicle in 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 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. [cite book|last=Stoppelenburg|first=Ramon|title=Letmestayforaday, around the world for free|publisher=Nijgh & Van Ditmar|pages=316]

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 fulltime freelancer in online media marketing and he produces short movies for the internet. As a literary compiler he created his first anthology about "flying", named "Fasten Your Seat Belt!" containing new literary works of twenty young Dutch authors.

Model

In the Netherlands he is currently also being very active as a commercial model, appearing in advertisements, magazines and television and theater commercials. Stoppelenburg has been working for TNT Post, Stork, DHL, TNO, Max Models, Glamour Magazine, Club Sportive, Nashuatec, Ocult and BNN.

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

Awards

*2002 - "Internet Personality of the Year", by the British Sunday Times.

References

External links

* [http://www.letmestayforaday.com Letmestayforaday.com - The official website]