CURRENT MISSION

hosting and thinking about future travels.

ABOUT ME

We are a couple, living in Munich Sendling, 10 min. to Central Munich by subway, 10 min. walking distance to Wiesn /Oktoberfest. Jessy is 29 years old and works as freelance graphic designer, Bernd is 34 and works as a TV Video Editor/Producer, we both do a lot of photography in our spare time. We also like going out, visiting museums, are interested in modern arts and music. And - surprise - we love to travel, preferably with our old VW police van, which is our cozy little travel-home when we can get away from our jobs for a while, which unfortunately is not often enough.

We love couchsurfing and we are hosting a lot and it's still exciting to meet and get to know different people. We made some really good friends through CS. Hosting is a bit like traveling in your mind when you can't travel yourself at the moment and we've enjoyed every single CS experience, because there is so much to learn, to share and to broaden your horizon, when you meet people from all around the world.

PHILOSOPHY

we studied philosophy. so we don't have one.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

we host. we surf. we interview. we make videos. jessy made a couchsurfing-based travel magazine.

Especially for all the first time couchsurfers: Here are some things that might be helpful to know about us and our couchsurfing philosophy:

FAQ

1. "How do I write a really good request?"
It might help, if you address us with the right names and mention why you want you stay with us, instead of sending out copy and paste requests. Write something honest, kind, funny, poetic or whatever you like. It doesn't have to be a novel, it doesn't have to be special, we just want to get an idea about who you are.

2. "How do I write a really bad request?"
"Hey guys, you seem like a nice person *( we are 2 )*. We want to spend time in Munich and everything is sooo expensive LOLZ *( is this the only reason you are doing couchsurfing? )* Can we stay with you? We will be 9 persons, traveling with our 3 cats and 5 guinea pigs. I know you're profile says that you can only host 4 people but that's okay, we don't need much space *( we really can only host 4-5 people max )*. You won't even notice, that we are there, because we only need a sleeping place for the night and you won't even see us *(so why should we host you then? )*. All we need is a couch and some food and a key to your flat. Please tell us the time we can arrive. Thank you! Why I want to stay with you: I think it's better to stay with locals, because they can show me around and can tell me stories about their city *( that's a good reason why you do couchsurfing, but it doesn't tell us, why exactly you want to stay with us )* "

3. "When I looked for people to stay with, you guys were on top of the list. You probably get spammed with couch requests, so should I even write you?"
Yes, please. Since we moved to the top of the Munich list, we get a lot of bad requests from people who send out 2-line copy and paste messages to the first 10 people they can find, so we are in desperate need of good requests and awesome people to host.

4. "Do you host for Oktoberfest? And how much in advance should I write to you in general?"
We do host for Oktoberfest. But we can't accept requests (for Oktoberfest and in general) more than 3-4 weeks in advance, since we don't know in March what we'll be doing in September/October. 1-2 weeks before your arrival is perfect for us, we also love last-minute-requests, so even if you plan to arrive in 5 minutes, don't hesitate to write us! :-)

We're not the biggest fans of the Oktoberfest, but yes, we do host.

5. "Seriously now. You seem to complain a lot. Is it really that bad?"
Congratulations, you've learned your first lesson about German culture: Germans like to complain all the time. No, it isn't that bad, but we liked couchsurfing more, when we didn't have to decline 9 out of 10 requests. But we still love hosting and are now even more happy, when we find a golden needle in the haystack.

6. "Ok, enough of that, so let's say I've send you an awesome request and you want to host me, what do I have to expect?"
We love having guests! We will be happy to welcome you with some dinner and wine and conversations at our kitchen table. We probably will ask you a lot of questions about your travels and your home country while we encourage you to drink some wine or beer or german schnaps. We will be hoping that you feel comfortable at our home, there's no need to be over-polite or shy (but if you are we won't mind too much and just help you out with some more beer, wine and schnaps :-))
You'll usually get your own key and you will be on your own during weekdays since we are both working. But we will be happy to spend some time with you in the evenings, cooking together, having some talks or going out to a concert. We also have a thing for boardgames! If you rather want to see Munichs nightlife, bars and discotheques thats fine with us, but we probably won't join since we usually feel a bit to old to party every week (yeah, it's that bad already :-) ).

a typical kitchen table situation

7. "Ugh, wait a minute, does that mean I'll have to spend time with you?"
Meeting people and getting to know them is the reason why we do couchsurfing. So we will be happy to spend some time with you. That means mostly in the evenings, since we are both working during the week. And that doesn't mean, that you can't have your own plans. We had very independent guests who had their own busy schedule and we had guests who spent most of their time with us and both is fine with us. But we would love to have at least one good talk with you during your stay.

8. "Any other duties?"
Nope.

9. "Are you sure? I won't have to bring something, do the dishes all the time, cook something for you or be your personal slave?"
You don't have to. We won't stop you, if you feel the urge to prepare us delicious food from your home country or doing the dishes when we cooked for you. But you also don't have to feel obligated to "give something back" - an expression we hear a lot and that we don't really get, because ideally we enjoy your company that much, that all of us "got something back" just by having good talks and learning about each others cultures and lives. If you want to do or bring something anyway, playing or singing us a song would be a good choice. We're huge music nerds.

teaching us something about your culture is a great guest present too

10. "It's my first couchsurfing experience. Do i have to be scared? And will you host me without references?"
Don't be afraid, we will be more afraid of you, since we'll have to make a good impression on first time couchsurfers to represent all the awesomeness of a concept like couchsurfing. So the pressure is on us :-) And yes we'll host you without references, but filling out a bit of your profile and adding a pictures usually helps (besides the awesome couch request you've sent us of course!)

11. "Ok guys, you didn't scare me away, I'm gonna stay with you, when can I arrive?"
During weekdays: Usually in the evening after 7pm. On weekends it's flexible. Jessy usually stays up quite late, even during the week, so if your train / bus / flight / horse carriage arrives in the night, it also should not be a problem (up to 2 am).

12. "You wrote a lot about hosting, but you requested my couch, so what do I have to expect from you as guests?"
As guests we might be a bit more shy than as host, but still able to communicate. :-) We are usually quite flexible travelers, that means we usually know what we want to see in your city or if we don't we also enjoy walking around and discover. If you want to show us around we always appreciate it, if not, we're happy on our own. We will adjust to your schedule and if you're not too busy we'll love to share some time, some wine, some food with you!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

quite a bit. We hosted our 100th guest in August 2012! Now aiming for 200 and our first one from the African continent!

We never had a really negative experience, if you want to give us one: Great! Then we'll finally have a shocking CS-story to tell :-)

Interests

Photography, Arts, Museums, Music, Computers, Movies, Design, Giraffes, Monsters, Robots, nice people.

Combining 3 of our interests - Street Photography, Arts and Travel - in only 1 picture we took in front of the opera in Budapest.

• cats
• arts
• culture
• books
• singing
• design
• graphic design
• modern art
• photography
• concerts
• oktoberfest
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• walking
• nightlife
• partying
• drinking
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• violin
• opera
• emergency services
• freelancing
• science
• beaches
• last minute travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: 127 hours, Into the Wild, Lost Highway, Mullholland Drive, Dead Man, Night on Earth, Juno, Amelie, Back to the Future, Submarine, Moonrise Kingdom, Whale Rider, Inglorious Basterds, Eagle vs. Shark, Grosse Point Blank, Me and you and everyone we know, Big Fish, Cold Fever, O Brother where art though, Pippi Langstrumpf, Pumuckl, Water, Magnolia, Arizona Dream, Coraline, Adams Äpfel, Kitchen Stories, Kops, Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot, Delikatessen, Doors, Dancer in the Dark, Mary Poppins, 2001, Pixar/Disney,...

Series: Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Fringe, Lost (except for the last episode!!!), Flight of the Conchords, Parks and Recreations, The Office, Couplings, IT Crowd ...

Books: Momo, Astrid Lindgren, Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch, Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit, Paul Auster, Haruki Murakami, Richard Feynman, Iain M. Banks, Herbert Rosendorfer, A Song of Ice and Fire.

Games: Carcassonne, Catan, Kuhhandel, ... Oh and a lot of Computer Games, like old games for the Amiga: Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Island, Bomberman. Or new Indie games: Super Meat Boy, Thomas was alone, Braid, Journey, Limbo,...

Music:
Songs: Ohia, Mumford & Sons, Bon Iver, Einar Stray, Antony and the Johnsons, Zoe Keating, Jose Gonzales, Leo J., Hellsongs, Doors, Billie Holiday, Mellow, Junip, Eels, Johnny Cash, Danzig, Sigur Ros, Mum, Paul Thomas Saunders, Alina Orlova, Goran Bregovic, Eddie Vedder, The God Machine, Sophia, Gry, Regina Spektor, Joanna Newsom, Bonobo, Four Tet, Kruder & Dorfmeister, John Frusciante, ....

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Albania was probably the most amazing country we've been to. Amazing landscapes, deserted beaches and the most friendly and hospitable people. We fell in love with this country immediately!

Most amazing trip: 8000 km in 30 days, through 10 countries with our old police VW van (Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Albania, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia)

Teach, Learn, Share

Jessy plays the violin, loves to cook (and eat), is doing street photography a lot, works as a designer and wants to learn every musical instrument in the world.

Jessy trying to learn every musical instrument in the world

Bernd is very good at computer stuff, does street photography, does video editing and vjing and papercraft, is a geek and knows a lot about science and stuff.

Bernd at work

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Macedonia, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany

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