Verliebt in Berlin

Back in the beginning of Nena's career (think 99 Luftballons), the time when Kreuzberg was inhabited only by punks in the early 1980s, my parents were living in Berlin. They were about my age at the time and were away from their families and were lucky enough to find many great friends there. They eventually got married in Berlin and my sister was even born there! Their lives really began together there and it's always had a special place in my heart because of the memories they share from their early days there.

 
Fast forward 20 years, I was lucky enough to visit Berlin with my fellow CB/PPP exchange students. Unfortunately, on that trip I got bit by a spider and had an allergic reaction that led to a trip to the very hospital my sister where my sister was born, in Kreuzberg. I didn't get the chance to see any of the major sites in the city because of the dang bite and I've wanted to go back there ever since.

Pre-bite visiting the Bundestag with great friends and fellow exchange students ;)

A while back, I started reading Nicole is the New Black, an American expat in Berlin's blog about life abroad. I love reading her point of view as a solo female traveler and about life in Berlin in general. Through her, I read about Travels of Adam. It was perfect timing as I saw his post about a giveaway for a weekend in Berlin. Amazingly enough, I commented and tweeted about the contest and I won! Out of the 422 entries I was the winner, and I'm so freaking excited about it! I'll be going for the weekend at the end of this month thanks to Roomsurfer.

Roomsurfer is yet another accommodation website, but with a hipster twist. The website uses your Facebook profile to match you with a potential host in whichever city you’re looking to visit. So if you like a certain type of music, you’ll be connected with potential hosts with similar tastes. It’s a unique way to get to know new people. With airlines already using Facebook to match passengers with seatmates, social-media profiling (is that the right way to word it, I don’t know?!) is only going to increase in the travel industry. And Roomsurfer is on its way up.
It’s a lot like CouchSurfing, but with Roomsurfer you’re paying for a host. Whereas I may spend hours (or days) writing and trying to organize a host on CouchSurfing, Roomsurfer does all the hard work for you. Finding a potential host could finally be a lot easier! (From Travels of Adam)

To be perfectly honest, when I found out I won, the first thing I said to T-Slav is that all of my blog followers are gonna hate me and think, "Why does this girl get all the fun?" But believe me, it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I was really missing my family and having an "I'm sick of Zagreb" moment and complaining when I checked my e-mail and saw that I won the trip! The other thing is, you can be doing this too! You really can! It's important to do the things you really want to do and live your life. What are you waiting for?! I have wanted to take advantage of the fact that I live here and try to see as much as I possibly can (on a budget) and I'm getting the chance to finally visit Berlin again, attend the Room Surfer launch party on April 28th, and really live out my dreams. All thanks to this awesome giveaway on a really cool blog! How cool is that?

So, I encourage you to write down all of the things you really want to do and see in your life and start to do them. Start small or big, take a day trip on the weekend, start painting, enter a contest! Do something that scares you. Seriously, try it and feel alive. Even if that something is starting to exercise or starting a blog or who knows what! I'll be sure to tell you all about my weekend in Berlin but I'd love to hear about what kinds of things you'd love to do. What is your number one dream destination?
 

Saturday Day Trip...to Austria!

Tomislav and I have been planning a trip to Ikea for the past couple of months. However, the closest Ikea to us is in Graz, Austria so we had to really plan the trip out in advance! The 2 hour drive was so worth it for us and I'm so happy we finally got to go, and it was even nicer because my future in-laws went with us. It was a great day we got to spend together. 

Our apartment that we rent came fully furnished, including all of the plates and cups and pots and pans and what not, however, I've been missing a few things big time and they are just so expensive here in Croatia! Some may think I am getting TOO excited over it, but I'm so thrilled for our new kitchen things that we bought because they make my life a little easier. Things like: roasting pans, a grater, and a large cutting board. Yay! Also, our place feels much more like a home now that we have new bedding complete with a new blanket and pillows. It's so great to have a down comforter, just like I have at home in the States. I love it!

 Adorable stuffed animals in the kids section of Ikea :)

 Tomislav always laugh when I tell him that someday when we have children, I, of course, will only feed them healthy foods...so much so that they will think of broccoli as dessert! In this case, the broccoli would be their cutie stuffed animal friend ;)

Since we were in Austria, there was no chance I was gonna miss eating some delicious Leberkäse! Mmmm, back during my exchange year in Bavaria, I used to eat Leberkäs Semmi's during Pause's (break/recess) at school, at home, and at my favorite restaurant in Viechtach, Iglhaut!

 T-Slav loves it too! The last time we were in Graz, he requested it for basically every meal.

 Not my most flattering photo, but it's just that good!

The other wonderful thing about our trip was doing some food shopping. We had to be quick because in Austria, all of the stores close by 6PM on Saturdays (and are closed all together on Sundays!). Now, I will admit that I'm a frugal kind of girl. I like to save money and not waste it on silly things. I'm not one for unncessary shopping trips, especially when it comes to clothes or things like that. But food, yes food, I will splurge on.

This past week, I really wanted to make Thai food since I brought Thai green curry paste back from the States to Croatia. I had almost everything I needed to make a delicious Thai (inspired) meal...besides the coconut milk. We had only bought it one time before and actually Tomislav had got in Slovenia after a business trip. Imagine my shock and surprise when I get to the grocery store and see that a can of coconut milk is 38 Kunas! That is $7! For one can! Ridiculous!!! I wasn't going to buy it because we're trying to save money and that is just ridiculous. But I knew how much better the meal would taste if we had the coconut milk so I thought, what the heck, this time I'll splurge. (It came out delicious, by the way)

My coworkers told me in Austria I could find coconut milk for around $2 so I knew I wanted to stock up.

I had such luck because the entire Asian foods section was on sale at the grocery store that day and the same coconut milk I had bought in Croatia, was on sale for 1 Euro!

We had a great time and I can't wait to visit Austria again. The country is beautiful, the people are so friendly, and I love hearing Austrians speaking German. It reminds me of Bavarian dialect and we all know, I love Bayern :) Next time we go to Austria, we have to get some Currywurst from one of the delicious street vendors (like in Graz!) Basically, sausage with a curry spiced ketchupy sauce. Yum!

Live to travel? Travel to live!

It might be totally cliche or obvious or whatever, but I really love to travel. I love the feeling of being in a new place, especially one I've never been to before and the rush, the excitement, even the confusion it all brings! It must have began when I was little and my parents would bring us back to Poland (from PA). I find it so interesting to hear about what I was like when I was little, how frustrated I got being in Poland and not understanding my family speak Polish around me. It's hard for me to imagine NOT wanting to speak another language, but apparently I was really against speaking Polish for a while. After that trip, I vowed to speak only in Polish with my parents so that the next time we went to Poland, I would be ready.

And ready I was, am, and always will be! I'm sort of obsessed with learning other languages. Going to Germany for CBYX  was one of the best experiences of my life and I'm so glad I got to go at such a young age (15/16 for one year, living with a host family, adapting to life in a foreign country, with a foreign language, and a new and different school system). It taught  me so much, about myself and about the world and about other cultures. It really helped shape my future and I'm so thankful to have had that amazing year in Bayern.

Anyway, I could talk about this sort of thing forever because I'm so passionate about it and really believe that young people should experience life abroad to allow themselves to learn, immerse themselves in another culture and grow and mature with that. The other thing I wanted to mention is that even if you are on a serious budget, you can still find ways to travel. Believe me, you really can! As a high school student, I obviously didn't have money to travel so I'm really thankful that I found out about that scholarship. There are tons of scholarship opportunities, especially for college students so you just have to do some research (early!) so that you know what the requirements are for certain scholarships. Here are some other ways that you can travel on the cheap, or ways to make money while traveling!

1.  Be a caretaker (basically, a professional house sitter): If you're interested in getting paid to take care of someones home/pets or perhaps even a hostel or bed  and breakfast, definitely check out this very informative article here. It's a great way to earn money while experience life in a new place, if you're up for it.
2. Teach! Teach what you know, whether it be teaching English (or another language you may know). Depending on what country you are in, you may not need a teaching degree to teach the English language. Tutoring is always a great way to earn some extra dough, and you can find a tutoring gig by posting on local forums or at the local university. Also if you have any special skills like playing the guitar, that's something else you could potentially teach!
3. Along the lines of music, become a busker. If you have an instrument and a talent, you can earn some serious cash if you find an area that gets a lot of foot traffic!
4.  Become a tour guide. Find out anything and everything about the city you are hoping to go to, or that you live in. Learn everything you can about the historical aspect and be ready for questions that anyone might want to know. You can plan your own tour of the town and advertise your services then. It's a bonus if you speak several languages, but if you have a friendly and outgoing personality, you may be able to start your own 'business.' Or, seek out a tour agency and see if they could use a freelancer!
5. Couchsurf: Although this isn't a way to make money, I think CouchSurfing has to be mentioned as something every traveler needs to know about. CouchSurfing is an amazing community of interesting, opening minded, and welcoming people. One of the taglines of CouchSurfing is: Imagine having an interesting friend wherever you go -- whether that’s 2,000 miles away, or right in your hometown. CouchSurfers are commited to intercultural understanding. If you haven't been on the website yet, go check it out now. You don't have to go anywhere to get involved, you can start by maybe hosting someone or just meeting up in your hometown for a coffee with a new traveling friend. It's a way to make friends all over the world!
6. Finally, one of the most inspiring CouchSurfers and people I know is Thomas Love Perko. You have to check out his page Thomas Love's Adventures. He writes in both Croatian and English (and maybe a few other words/phrases here and in there in other languages!). He is a CouchSurfing ambassador, hitchhiking advocate, and one of the friendliest people you will ever meet. Check out his page to read all about the adventures he's had and to learn more about how he found sponsorship (from the likes of MasterCard and the travel agency Da Da Da) for some of his recent travels. He is currently traveling for his Project '1000 Days of Summer - following the Sun on a journey around the World' using alternative ways of travel (couchsurfing, hitchhiking, busking). Read more about it (in Croatian) here. Or just check out his Facebook page! 

The King of CouchSurfing himself!

Just do it! Go, put yourself out there and do it now, because if you don't go now, when will you do it? If it feels right, just go for it and make it work! And if you have any questions or need any help or advice about anything, please feel free to ask!

To get a better understanding for what Thomas Love's project 1000 Days of Summer is really like, check out this short trailer about it: