the quick summary: open minded, playful and always loving a good talk

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the more detailed narration (estimated reading time 8 minutes :)

Hey travelers of the world,

welcome to Berlin! So before you request a stay, maybe some basic information about the guy who owns that couch to be surfed.

Looking very much forward to meeting you!

MY APPROACH TO COUCHSURFING

I got to know Couchsurfing around 2015 through a lovely person and happy to say good friend of mine, who travelled the world (at least thrice I guess :) People from all over the world seemingly constantly were around his shared flat and I so enjoyed the convo and times and shared stories when I´d been there. I wanted to contribute more actively to this beautiful idea of appreciative and sharing travel experience and here we are.

I mainly hosted a lot of kind fellow beeings in my hometown during the Documenta arts exhibition in 2017 via my old shared CS-profile with my ex girlfriend. We discovered the expositions all together, enjoyed sunny hours in the parks there and sometimes had like four to six guests at the same time with beautiful buffets for breakfast and endless talks as an outcome. I´m happy to still be in contact with some of them till today.

For those who don´t know the Documenta. It´s one of the largest modern art exhibitions in the world, taking place only every 5 years and making ~1million people visit my 200,000 inhabitant hometown within 100 days, making it a artsy little melting pot -> feel free to read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documenta

So while I was also couchsurfing myself within Germany, Czech Republic, Italy and Spain meanwhile I neglected it a bit - at least to host people - since I moved to Berlin in 2018. And now I feel that - especially in those more turbulent times/circumstances - these so highly valuable places and platforms like Couchsurfing need more attention. I think we should not stop getting to know inspiring people. For sure traveling right know is about responsible behaviour and solidarity. But traveling right now does not mean to neglect these values for me. Right now the power of exchange, inspo and sharing ideas, memories as well as creating new ones is even more important!

So, looking forward to hosting again, looking forward to hosting you and talking about all the bits and bytes of life, enjoying more or less time together (however it is manageable or feels fun).

FACTS & FIGURES - ABOUT ME

- Open mindedness:
Let´s talk about everything and all those ideas and approaches towards life as long as they are based on ground pillars like equality, respect and positivity. I`m eager to listen to your very unique story and discover new thoughts. Let´s not only scratch the "How was the day"-surface, as there´s usually so much more than the tip of the iceberg :)

- My enthusiasm & activities:
I´m one of that hobbies>time people. I love meeting friends around the world, love movies, music, sports, games, creativity & arts and all the thousand facets that correspond :) I try to be as spontaneous as possible but well, I work (and I like what I do) and there are for sure some further responsibilities. But let´s try to find time to do whatever we like to do: Discover the city together, cook some delicious dishes or head out if we are to lazy to do so, go to the museums, play some ping pong, frisbee or kubb in a park or watch a movie or play a boardgame if the weather is too bad. If we plan something I´m 100% reliable and will join only cause of anticipation not because feeling obliged :)) Have a spontaneous "stupid" idea?...fear I might join :) Have a guitar and/or can sing? Bonus points on that! :))

- Go with the flow:
I guess whether sharing a flat for a moment or not is a good idea, both of us figure out a lot by reading our descriptions, request and first lines of chat. But if it happens that we meet and feel that there´s for some reason absolutely no connection? Well, let´s accept that, face it and make the best out of the situation. I like to spend time, but for sure we mustn´t. What we sould: Just be open regarding that first impressions and respectful.

- Respectfulness:
In the end, I´m just a host anyways and we all do couchsurfing for the joy of it. So as always in life in between people we owe us nothing else than respect. So disrespectful behaviour will for sure not be tolerated and I am not afraid to tell you that it´s better to split sooner than later otherwise. I´m happy that I never had such a situation while couchsurfing or hosting, but I think it´s fair to be open here.

- Time in general:
I use to work. Not classically 9 to 5 but still some usual 40h a week. Therefore I need at least some six hours of sleep a night and usually go to bed arround midnight to 1am midweek. If you plan to party all night that´s still fine, as long as you don´t wake me up :D. As for common activities: I can be rather flexible, so usually we can share time in the evening but also midday if I can plan a bit upfront.

- Vegetarian:
Since 2017 im vegetarian. If you can´t live without your daily dead pig...well its sad but I for sure accept that (don´t worry, it´s easily your decision without any judgement and indoctrination sucks badly, I´m sure you´re still a great person). But at least it would be fine to not save meat in the fridge or cook it in the kitchen. If you´re vegan, please forgive me that I love cheese :))

- Pureness:
I try to be as much true to size as possible, beeing a reflective person loving his balance. That does not mean that I do Yoga (I don´t) or study books about self-realization (I don´t) or can´t do a sarcrastic jokes (I do sometimes). I can also get furious if e.g. technology does not work...or if someone´s an asshole. It just means that I pretty much know myself and there are not much contradictions, no no-go topics not to talk about and I´m sorry, no corpses in the basement & no stories about illegal activities here (well, I still pass red traffic lights as a pedestrian :-P). Part of that is that I seldomly change my state artificially, so no caffeine, any sort of drugs, I don´t even have dyed hair or fake nails :)) Why do I tell? On the one hand I think its an important fact about me (expectation management), on the other hand I want to underline that and how much I appreciate any other approach, no matter how diametrically it might be. Let´s unbubble each other, if you feel we are totally different here :))

- My local guide status: Well, I´d say my local knowledge is still expandable, but i guess I know one or two bits :)) So feel free to aks my anything.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

The flat has a bathroom and kitchen and I can offer inflatable mattresses or a fold-out bed. Let´s cook something together and also feel free to take a bath (as long as its not in those 15mins of the day, when I prepare for work :))
I can offer you a towel as well as a blanket and a pillow but feel free to bring yours :)

Otherwise you can expect a 361 out of 365 days in a good mood and smiley host who sometimes might even toast a bread or make tea for you as well in the morning (only if you woke up till then for sure) :))

Also feel free to grab a book and page through..

WHAT BROUGHT ME TO BERLIN

I´m around in this partly messy and chaotic but overall heartwarmingly honest, beautiful, colorful and always lively city since ~2015. Variety of cultures and ideas, vibe of the people you meet, the feeling that you have at least the chance to do all that comes to your mind at every moment 24/7 no matter if you really do it in the end. All these impressions made me feel comfy right from the start and might also be some of the attractions that brought you here ;)

So when I was given an interesting job opportunity here in 2018 I finally decided to fully switch city, employee and branch and moved to Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.

WHERE´S THE FLAT SITUATED

As this is also where the flat is situated, here´s a quick summary about the character and benefits of this district that is situated in the north eastern inner city ring. Prenzlauer Berg, or Prenzlberg used to be more of an workers district (19th to 20th century) but nowadays is - as many districts - highly gentrified. Berlin people for example tend to say its "verschwabt", what means overcrowded by yuppies from e.g. southern Germany ('verschwabt' here comes from Schwaben, one of the more historically seen cultural areas of southern Germany around cities like Stuttgart or Ulm).

I´d rather say Prenzlauer Berg is maybe not as artsy, alt and nightlifeish as parts of Friedrichshain or rough, pure and bass-driven like Neukölln or Kreuzberg, but it´s still a beautiful place to live with dozens of gems to discover. With all of its classical 'Altbau' buildings, cozy little Cafés & snack shops, lovely unique shops and high density of parks it´s one of the most requested districts of the city. And while it´s not the fav area for clubbing there are still some very nice bars around where you can have a drink or play billard, table soccer or darts. You find all different kinds of people here from young families, students` shared flats to business people or one or another more or less known musician or tv host :)

Figure out more upfront if you like here: -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenzlauer_Berg

You can arrive here with several lines of public transport (see 'How to get anywhere else). If you arrive at Hauptbahnhof, take the M10 till Eberswalder Str. and either take the U2 for one station to Schönhauser Allee from there or walk (like 10 to 15 mins).

Feel free to ask me whenever you arrive somewhere else (Flixbus stations like ZOB, Südkreuz, Zoo; Airport Tegel TXL or Airport Schönefeld SXF). We´ll find a place to meet for sure ;)

RECOMMENDATIONS

You should truely discover yourself ;) But here are at least a handful of ideas within 15mins walk for the first step:

- You like vintage shopping? Really don´t miss out on 'Paul´s Boutique', a true Berlin institution, selection, quality, fair pricing, unique pieces, all absolutely outstanding -> Oderberger Str. 47, move to Eberswalder Str. with U2 or M1 and walk there (like 5 mins)

- Dip into Kiez-life with Cafés, shops and markets on the weekends: stroll around Kollwitzplatz or around Stargarder Str./Pappelalle/Helmholtzplatz

- Relaxing in a park in a hammock (can lend you one) with a book (can also lend you one :) -> Volkspark Friedrichshain (20mins by foot) or Mauerpark (10 mins)

- A quick snack meanwhile? Best Halloumi and Falafel @ 1001 Falafel, Stargader Str. 73

- Berlin in general: Stroll around Maybach-Ufer alongside Landwehrkanal; ask me for more secret tips and where to eat ice cream per district in person ;)

But that just as a quick summary of pinpoints, pride and prejudice. For sure you don´t plan to only stay here but want to discover the whole of big Berlin. Here´s how you get outta here:

HOW TO GET ANYWHERE ELSE

Take U2 -tube- (reachable within 5mins walk) to reach the whole east-west axis of the city and to...

...drive to Alexanderplatz in 10 mins
...drive to Stadtmitte in 20 mins (e.g. to walk to Checkpoint Charlie in 5 mins or to Brandenburg Gate in 10mins)
...drive to Ku´damm in 35 mins (the touristic way of shopping ;) like KaDeWe and all the other high priced brand shops)
...drive to Olympia Stadium in 55 mins (maybe you have a post COVID concert there or at Waldbühne and well, there´s also this soccer club called Hertha BSC Berlin some might find interesting :)

Take the S41/S42 "Ringbahn" to
...drive in circles round the city...either clockwise (S41) or counterclockwise (S42)
...reach almost all the other inner city districts like (clockwise) Friedrichshain, Neukölln, Tempelhof, Schöneberg, Westend, Wedding aaaand back to Prenzlauer Berg

Take M1 -tram- to
...drive from Prenzlauer Berg to Berlin Mitte and cross stations like Eberswalder Str., Rosenthaler Platz, Monbijouplatz (Cafés & shopping), Hackescher Markt (Hackesche Höfe), Bahnhof Friedrichstraße (Tränenpalast, Friedrichstraße, Friedrichstadtpalast)

Take M13 -tram- to
...either drive till Wedding (west) or Friedrichshain (east)

YOU SHOULD REQUEST IF

- ...you have even more appetite to discover Berlin now than before.
- ...everything you red makes you think "I had worse ideas in life than staying with this guy" :)
- ...you really not only plan to get wasted for the days you stay.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I´d like to get to know a bit more about why you comin to Berlin and why you want to stay. Just a "Can i stay from Wednesday to Sunday?" is fair, but less convincing :)) Also requests to stay for a month are understandable as the flat market is ridiculously nuts, but then I can maybe share other tips and hints :)

Animals: I love them, but they are not allowed in my flat. So cats, dogs, apes, elephants and snakes must stay at home. If you have a goldfish I guess we somehow my find a solution.

Children: I had requests a lot and hosted parents in my hometown, where I had way more rooms and space with possibility almost not to hear each other, what made it a great experience with lovely families. But I´m honest, I guess in the Berlin environment it would be more stress- than enjoyful for all participants. If you like to meet and exchange travel stories and a relaxed time anyways, let´s rather do that in Kassel then. Maybe during the next Documenta or once I´m on a trip home! :))

Even more anything else left? Just ask :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love the opportunity to get to know people i'd otherwise propably have never met, share thoughts, appreciate time and enjoy life.

Interests

• arts
• architecture
• movies
• board games
• music
• sports
• language
• graphic novels
• good conversation
• star wars
• eating good food
• getting to know new people
• mario kart
• your story
• pursuit of happiness
• thoughts and ideas
• creativity in general

Music, Movies, and Books

every genre has its gems to be discovered..

a quick movie selection to start with: Her, 99 francs, Pulp Fiction, WEIT., Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Lucky # Slevin, The Dark Knight, Matrix, Se7en, Watchmen, Wall-E, Serpico, Drive or La vie d'Adèle

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

waking up at the seashore by sunrise

Teach, Learn, Share

thoughts, stories, lust for life

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany