Ramon Stoppelenburg

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Ramon Stoppelenburg

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Born
in Leiden, Netherlands
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September 2014

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Ramon left a mark on the internet before it all got very big and social, has published several books in The Netherlands and moved to Cambodia in 2011, Georgia in 2021, ended up in Morocco in 2022 and now lives in Portugal. He does not settle easily.

He was the first ever digital nomad as he had his own social network already running in 2001. Others even called him the Godfather of Couchsurfing.

In 2018, the Dutch Royal Library designated the Letmestyaforaday.com website as UNESCO Digital Heritage, internationally recognized in the 2003 UNESCO Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage.

In 2020, he was among the final 50 candidates out of a total of 2,400 applications for NASA’s astronaut candidate program. He didn’t make it to the fi
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Ramon Stoppelenburg Living alone in Phnom Penh, I always heard my neighbor lady crying through the thin walls every night. Yesterday I learned the apartment next door has…moreLiving alone in Phnom Penh, I always heard my neighbor lady crying through the thin walls every night. Yesterday I learned the apartment next door has been empty for three years.(less)
Ramon Stoppelenburg In 2001, I created one of the first social networks on the internet — Letmestayforaday.com — which connected me with over thousands of strangers who o…moreIn 2001, I created one of the first social networks on the internet — Letmestayforaday.com — which connected me with over thousands of strangers who opened their homes to me across five continents. For almost three years, I lived this radical experiment in trust, a journey that UNESCO later recognized as digital heritage.

But here’s the mystery: what happened to all those people?

These weren’t just hosts — they were early digital pioneers who believed in a stranger’s story before Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram even existed, before algorithms decided who we should trust.

Then the internet changed. From 2007 social media took over. Most of them vanished, their change of ISP changed their email addresses forever. Some moved country. Some died. Many just disappeared into the digital ether.

The book would follow a protagonist trying to track down those lost connections 30+ years later — only to realize that some of them never existed quite the way he remembered. Were the connections as real as they felt? Did the digital personas match the people behind them? And what happens when you start to question whether your most meaningful relationships might have been performances all along?

It’s part detective story, part meditation on digital identity, part reckoning with the mythology we create around our own past. Because maybe the real mystery isn’t where those people went — but whether the version of myself who lived that adventure was ever real to begin with.

That’s actually what my Dutch novel-in-progress, Het Laatste Hostel, explores — the gap between who we are online, and who we are when nobody’s watching.(less)
Average rating: 3.08 · 26 ratings · 2 reviews · 1 distinct work
Letmestayforaday: zonder ee...

3.08 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2004 — 2 editions
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Why I Chose to Live in Cambodia

and How I Fell In Love with Phnom Penh When people ask why I chose to live in Cambodia, I usually struggle to answer. Not because I don’t know, but because none of the obvious reasons really explain it. Yes, life is affordable. The weather is warm. The visa is straightforward. But those are just facts. They don’t explain why someone arrives intending to stay a few months and, years later, still ca

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Published on July 10, 2026 22:02
De overbodigen
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Ramon Stoppelenburg wrote a new blog post

Why I Chose to Live in Cambodia

and How I Fell In Love with Phnom Penh When people ask why I chose to live in Cambodia, I usually struggle to answer. Not because I don’t know, but be Read more of this blog post »
Ramon Stoppelenburg started reading
De overbodigen by Herman Koch
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Schooljaren by Ernest van der Kwast
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De vijf jongens van de verwarminggroep, Ashraf, Dave, Erinç, Mo en de naamloze verteller, staan iedere pauze bij dezelfde verwarming naast de ingang. Dat is hun plek, opgeëist en verdedigd. Wie er anders bij gaat staan wordt "vriendelijk doch dringen ...more
Schuld by Walter van den Berg
Schuld
by Walter van den Berg (Goodreads Author)
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In de mist van Golden Gate Park by Murat Isik
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Secret Bump by Chloe Maine
Secret Bump
by Chloe Maine (Goodreads Author)
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Zanger Ronald zingt de blues by Walter van den Berg
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Met Zanger Ronald zingt de blues laat Walter van den Berg zien hoe ver hij is gekomen. Niet door zijn stem glad te poetsen, maar juist door deze scherper, preciezer en menselijker te maken. Goddomme, man. Dit is Van den Berg op zijn best.

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Dancing With The Moon by Gabrielle Yetter
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Dancing with the Moon is one of those rare poetry collections that feels less like a book and more like a companion, meeting you in places you didn't know needed tending. From the opening poem, Gabi weaves a quiet thread of humanity through every pag ...more
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Adem by Saskia Noort
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The Secret of Secrets by Dan    Brown
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Dan Brown delivers exactly what his fans expect with The Secret of Secrets: a relentless page-turner that drags you through the streets of Prague at breakneck speed.

Unfortunately, the novel also shows Brown at his most formulaic. The short chapters
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More of Ramon's books…
Audrey Niffenegger
“Don't you think it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?”
Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

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