E9 - Kristina: Couchsurfing and Personal Growth with Kristina

What if solo travel could transform your life in unexpected ways? Join us as we welcome Kristina, a German traveler on her inaugural solo trip to Poland, where she delves into her heritage by visiting her grandparents' birthplaces. Kristina candidly shares her journey from a casual holidaymaker to an adventurous traveler, revealing how leaving her comfort zone was both thrilling and daunting. Her meeting with a 61-year-old solo traveler serves as an inspiring testament to the freedom and self-discovery one can achieve through solo adventures. We untangle the complexities of couch surfing, highlighting how these unique social connections often lead to profound personal growth.

Navigating the world as a solo female traveler comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. We dig into the intricacies of choosing safe and engaging couchsurfing hosts, stressing the importance of intuition, meticulous profile checks, and shared interests. This episode also tackles common stereotypes and broader societal concerns surrounding solo female travel. We emphasize the power of a positive outlook in shaping one's travel experiences, suggesting that a blend of caution and optimism can pave the way for enriching and secure adventures.

The journey doesn't end there. We traverse Canada from Toronto to Nova Scotia, recounting tales of serendipitous encounters, including an unexpected reunion with a German friend who tags along for a road trip. The beauty of northeastern Canada's coastlines is brought to life, along with the challenges of finding the right balance between honesty and empathy when leaving couchsurfing references. We also explore the benefits of combining different types of accommodation for a well-rounded travel experience. As we close, we reflect on the personal growth that travel fosters and invite you to explore the charming town of Detmold, promising more captivating stories in future episodes.

Connect with Kristina on Couchsurfing: https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/768057

Connect with me:

• Igar Garai Instagram: https://instagram.com/igargarai
• or be my CS guest: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/igar-garai

Transcript

Igar: 0:00

Hello, dear travelers from around the world, and welcome back to the episode 9 of Travelcast. Today I would like to introduce you a person in the beginning of your travel journey, kristina, who decided to have a solo trip during her summer break and visit not only cities, but also places where her grandparents were born. So, kristina, thanks for joining us. And, yeah, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Kristina: 0:29

sure, yeah, thanks for having me here. Um, I am from germany. Uh, as you already mentioned, I didn't. I don't have such a lot experience in traveling by now and I'm willing to change that, and because I'm curious what traveling makes with me. Maybe I would say in the past I was more on holiday, which is a difference for me, and, yeah, it's my first solo trip and it's exciting to me because it is. I've never been to Poland before. I don't speak Polish and it's at this exciting point where it is strange in a good way and in a way which forces me and I like this, this point to get a little bit out of my comfort zone, but never in a way that makes me feel unable to survive all right, interesting and like what is.

Igar: 1:48

Inspired you like to have this solo trip um, honestly, I didn't thought about doing.

Kristina: 1:56

There was no other person around me who I could have asked to join me and, honestly, um, I realized more and more when I told, uh, people around me that I'm going, that everyone asked me oh, you're going alone. And then I started realizing, oh, it's, it's usual, it's not usual, I have no idea, is it? Is it question? I just decided to go and um yeah, but I think, um, I, um, I met a lady in the hostel I stayed. It was really really nice meeting her.

Kristina: 2:51

We kind of, yeah, we met each other and we totally got along very well at the very first moment and she told me she's 61 and she always used to travel with her family and she mentioned that traveling with her family was more like doing what the others want to do, like her husband or her kids. And now she's traveling alone and, yeah, she now really enjoys what she wants to do. And she told me that she's happy for me Now I am traveling. And she gave me the tip that solo traveling is the best Because you don't have to do any compromises and you just can do what you want to do. And yeah, now I'm curious what I want to do. That's interesting to find out. This is so true.

Igar: 3:47

Yeah, this is so true. I also experience these kind of things that when you travel by yourself, definitely you would like to have moments to share with somebody, or you know like, especially if you I don't know, maybe when you like travel by cities, hostels or like socialize, you kind of find, if you especially speak the at least like English or something, this then something going on and you meet amazing people and like some action goes, like social action between all of you and people you meet, and so on. However, like I think, for me personally, I had some issues. But I say, when I'm like hitchhiking by myself or like camp by myself or kind of in general like nature by myself, then I felt, of course, for some short time like was no problem, you know, but for if do it like longer, then you feel like a little bit crap, like why I'm doing this shit? Who am I doing this shit?

Igar: 4:54

Kind of like with my personal you know, like some people might be totally amazed by this and feel totally fine, but for me I was like all right, like I would like to meet somebody. I would like to, you know, share this moment with somebody you know, to have some chat, of course, like again, for some short period of time I can totally be fine with myself and enjoy totally presence, you know. But yeah, so I don't know. Uh, it's very interesting, I so partly I agree with people who are amazed by solo travel and say like it's the best because you don't need to give a fuck about anybody. Today, you feel, go somewhere, you go. Tomorrow, you don't feel, you don't go like whatever, it's totally up to you. So, yeah, excited for you as well, and let's see how it goes.

Kristina: 5:45

Later you will tell me it is interesting um that you tell uh exactly you really spoke out the words that I just wrote in my diary a few days ago. Um, one thing that I realized it's, um, traveling is probably always um a lot about finding out about yourself and um, I realized the first two cities. I was still in germany and I found a couch surfing host pretty easy and that went well. And then I went um here and it was. It was kind of hard to find a house.

Kristina: 6:29

I wrote several holes and I think I already explained it in the request I sent to you. There's some issues that I have because I I was unsure whether I should write more than one person a request, because for me I choose not to find a place to stay but a person I want to stay with. And if I send a request and write, I like that you do this and that and I think we have something in common and I want to get to know you, and then the person answers me and say okay, come to my place.

Kristina: 7:10

I don't want to be in the position to say, oh, I already find another host, because it would be kind of all right you know, yeah, I, yeah and that's why I only write one person and then I wait for the answer and then I write the other person. But that takes me more time and probably I ran out of time due to this. And so it was on my when I was sitting in the Flixbus and we crossed the border to Poland and the signs, the traffic signs, changed, and it was only a little bit that changed when I looked out of the window, but it was this unsecurity, because it was like 6 pm, 6 in the evening, and I didn't know where I could stay the night, and at that point I realized that I'm more comfortable with some kind of security. So while driving I just looked in the internet and I found a hostel. And then, after finding this hostel and after seeing that they have beds with curtains, which was important for me.

Kristina: 8:32

I felt totally comfortable and suddenly I had this joy and this adventure and I was looking forward to my trip and it was interesting to me that such a little thing changed my, my feeling of the upcoming travel. And yeah, and in this way that was what I meant. I am curious on me.

Igar: 8:58

I'm curious what I will find out about me and myself more on this trip very interesting, detail very interesting you got some like sort of secure feeling, that okay I will have my place to sleep, somehow private with these curtains, and that's it.

Igar: 9:18

I'm fine, right, like I will.

Igar: 9:20

I will make it, you know, yeah, like I don't need to depend, yeah, but also it's another question, what you um, well, maybe we can back to this later when, like, uh, I will go to couch surfing topic, um, or we can just go with now, right, like in general, because I know that, like, you use the application for quite like for super long time.

Igar: 9:46

But so let's touch this one, right, as you already mentioned, and, yeah, like, for example, this moment, again like how you choose the person and how you feel because, again, like you are female, travel, you solo travel, as you discovered, and and how this like selection of the person and like what gives you like security to trust the person where you will go to stay with, because, again, as a female, I believe it might be a little bit trickier, not always trickier, but stereotypically, again, like you know, like man has reputation, you know, like that something can happen, even though it can happen with both way, both ways.

Igar: 10:31

Um, however, yeah, with female more often. So the thing is how, like, how you like what your criterias like, maybe, of choose the person, like is it should be. No, well, it should not be female because, like, I'm a male and you like me in my place, right. So, but yeah, like, what sort of your way, how you choose the person who you like will trust to stay with, or like, not necessarily in only security way, but maybe of the interest way. Yeah, like to spend time, or just like I mean you know. Yeah, if you can open this.

Kristina: 11:15

Yeah, I already asked that myself too. I realized that I probably in Germany I stayed with, the first host was a girl and the other in the other city was a couple, and I really feel comfortable with other women around me and maybe it is a point that I feel more secure when it's women. But here in Wartlow there are not as many women, it's, I would say. To me it seemed as if the percentage was like 30 to 50 and um, um, I usually I just look the, I look up the.

Kristina: 12:03

The first photo is important, of course, and if it, if the person looks sympathetic to me in any kind of way, um, it even doesn't matter male or female then um, and then I read the profile and I always read the whole profile because I'm interested in it and um, after that I think, the interests and, um, yeah, the, the other topics that are mentioned, like the sleeping situation and so on, and then maybe I will have a short look at the photos and then I just go about my intuition. And it's interesting because I talked to the last couchsurfing couple how they decide who to host and they said it would be the other way around. So I never read references because I look if persons are verified or if they have references.

Igar: 13:10

That's enough for me.

Kristina: 13:12

If a person is not verified and does not have references, I would not stay with him or her. But, yeah, after that, if they have one of these things, it's enough for me. And sometimes it's that people write about certain interests like, for example, they can do something that I want to learn, that really, yeah, that always is a good thing to me. Or they have a certain kind of humor I like, and yeah, little things or like common interests, like going to concerts or festivals or so on, so that I imagine, when I meet the person, there will be topics that we can speak about, and I think that's the only criteria for me.

Kristina: 14:10

When coming to this security point, I would say that I'm, anyway, a very some call it naive and some call it trustful person, but I just go with my intuition and I never had that bad experiences. I am not stupid and I would not go into situations that are dangerous for me. I just think if I'm at this place and I realize, okay, I don't feel comfortable here, then I will do what I do, but I never had this situation by now so lucky me so, in general, your personal opinion, do you believe in, not about belief, how to ask this question?

Igar: 15:03

because you know, I also met like a lot of like solo travelers, female travelers.

Igar: 15:08

It's kind of popular topic and like, but there is some people really into concern, like, hey, is it safe country for female?

Igar: 15:15

Or like, is it safe place to go, safe application to use or something or something, and uh like do like I know that it's valid creation, valid concern, but like, in your opinion, how do you uh feel like, is it like really issue issue or like if you have certain certain, certain um, how to say, checkups or maybe being like careful in some sort of situation, you will be fine because, like what I feel from like male perspective I don't wanna like sound, you know, strange, but with many cases, and especially this solo travelers, solo female travelers, who was always telling me they were selling mostly it's kinda like stereotypically or bullshit. You know, from perspective that like, oh, this country is safe. They say, man, like I traveled this country by myself, hitchhiking, like, like do you think, like you know, of course you need to be have this, that, this, that you know like some step of you in foreign countries, different tools, different things, you know, just watch out.

Kristina: 16:26

Yeah.

Igar: 16:27

And I was like, hmm, interesting, yeah. So what do you think?

Kristina: 16:32

Yeah, just from your approach, like I don't know for life in general, yeah, yeah, I can only tell, maybe less by my traveling experience by my traveling experience, but in daily life I would say it doesn't make sense to me to do such generalism because I think it also often depends on some kind of I would not call it karma or manifestation stuff or something, but as the energy that you send out to the world, you get back. And if you send out to the world, the world is a good place and people won't do any harm to me. And if you trust that it's my opinion, you will receive that. That it's my opinion.

Igar: 17:31

You will receive that. That's just what I, what I um experience by now, right, yeah, okay, yeah, fair, fair point, fair point of view. I know, yeah, people had also bad experience would be also, um, you know, interesting and also analyze such things. However, okay, okay, like, here we are and, uh, you know what. I also know that you are in the couch surfing app, like quite pioneer and like use it since long time. What is, in general, like I don't know, inspired you to use this application and like, kind of how did you know about it? Like since, because you use it what? Since 2008, if I correct, and like these times, we already talked with you like and mentioned this like before mobile era, literally, literally, and yeah, can you please like, how do you find this application like and how is? Maybe it was a website, it was not application yes, yes it was.

Kristina: 18:22

It was a website, not an application. Yes, it was not an application. At first it was a website, and it wasn't me that found it, but my best friend. She did a working year in Canada and I said that I was willing to visit her and she found out. She told me oh, there's this couchsurfing thing and she explained it to me, how it works. And yeah, I was 24 that time.

Kristina: 18:50

Yes in my early 20s and it was for me, at the same time, of course, an advantage of being able to travel because of the low cost. Travel because of the low cost and I I don't even know which is worth more really staying with the people and really get to get to know lots of people and lots of very different people and, um, and experiencing the openness of other people and the um, yeah, the circumstance that you come to a place that you haven't been before but you are welcome, that was really great. That was really great and it was really interesting. That, um, the people we met there. It was so different.

Kristina: 19:41

So our, our experiences went from a one couple, uh, which were exactly from poland, went to canada and they had this very huge, very, it was kind of a villa and we had our own room with our own bath and I I'd never stayed in a hotel. It was really so impressive and they were so nice, really a really nice couple. And then we went to the next place and it was students living together, students living together, and I remember that the room, the so-called room we slept in, was also called the dutch oven because it was a very small room and they, um, when they used to smoke weed, they just sat in this little room. Yes, and that was our guest room, with just mattresses. Yeah, and the sink was damaged and we had to brush our teeth in the evening and then the next morning you could also wash your hands in this kind of thing.

Igar: 21:00

Yes, but it was really yeah, it was, it was totally. It was interesting because it was really it can be different.

Kristina: 21:04

Yeah, it was totally different. It was interesting because it was really one after the other.

Igar: 21:09

But what was first?

Kristina: 21:11

First was the penis oh shit.

Igar: 21:14

How did you feel with the second one?

Kristina: 21:17

Honestly.

Igar: 21:18

I or you were thinking all couchsurfing will be less yeah.

Kristina: 21:25

It was just interesting. It was really just interesting, I think it was because for me and for my best friend, marion, it was always about the people, and so we are both not that we both like camping and the German music festivals where you are. It's a special topic for another podcast, so we are used to not showering every day or some stuff like that.

Kristina: 22:00

Yeah, we're both very uncomplicated, but it was really, it was really interesting to see how much it differs and and to see how much it differs the people that we get along with, uh, from A to Z. So the range was really wide, but every, every one we met was kind of sympathetic in his or her way, although they were very different.

Igar: 22:39

Interesting. And how did you plan your trips in general, from the technical part, because of this website thing, because I remember my first couchsurfing trips it was when, like 2000 and maybe 16 or something yeah, it was already phones, but I didn't have phone, I had Windows phone and there was no couchsurfing application and I use my laptop to text. So I kind of maybe technically know, but yeah, maybe you can tell from your perspective, like 2008, and how did you plan it? Because, also, as we mentioned, nowadays you can do more spontaneous anytime, open phone, find person like yeah, even if you're lucky enough, even one hour, half an hour, you're okay.

Kristina: 23:32

Yeah.

Igar: 23:33

Yeah, so how was back then?

Kristina: 23:36

I remember that it really took us time to do it. It was really a plan and we had this route that we wanted to go. We knew we have five weeks and where do we want to go and what is realistic and how long are the distances, and then we just wrote requested requests to the host. I think it was like four weeks ahead, and so we could like in the same system. I already told you that we could wait for the reply and if the reply was like I can't host you, we could write to another person.

Igar: 24:17

It's the same. You did like one person choose and then.

Kristina: 24:21

Yeah, only the closer the date came, then we sometimes switch OK, we now have to search for a place to stay, so we have to write several people. But yeah, it was totally planned. It was not so spontaneous because we knew, okay, we will come at that certain date and we have to leave at that certain date because the other person is waiting for us, and so on. Yeah, but I wouldn't say that it was worse, it was just different.

Igar: 24:53

different yeah and like about people wise. It was already popular, or not really?

Kristina: 25:01

I'm not sure. I think in germany it was not that popular because I don't know what year they started to. Oh, I have no idea Like yeah me actually too Interesting. I have no idea, yeah.

Igar: 25:16

But anyway, so you still could like cool, cool, cool, cool. How was Canada? What did you? Where did you travel? What did you visit, like on camping or like something? Did you do there? No, Sorry. Did you camp in Canada?

Kristina: 25:29

No, sorry. Did you camp in Canada? No, we didn't. I visited my friend in Toronto. All right and that was our starting and end point. And where did we go? We went to Nova Scotia and to this sounds Polish.

Igar: 25:50

No, thank you. No, it's in the Balk, it's Serbian, I don't know In the West.

Kristina: 25:54

Coast. Yeah, that sounds Like.

Igar: 25:55

Boston.

Kristina: 25:56

Yes, you're right. We took a route which is called the Cabot Trail, which is in the northeast of Canada, the northeast of Canada, and it's well known for its beauty. And it was so beautiful it is along the coast and, yeah, it is a long time ago so I don't remember every step. But from Halifax and also to Quebec and Montreal, I really remember Montreal. That really came into my heart.

Kristina: 26:33

Yeah, lots of different stages and lots of different, like one more in the countryside and one in the middle of Montreal, for example. Lots of different places. We've been there and, um, yes, we met another german guy there. That was funny because, uh, did we meet online? Yes, we met online. I think he asked for um, he asked us to give him a ride because we had a rental car there, and then we took him with us quite a few days. We stayed a bit longer together, yes, and another proof that the world is a small village is that he came from a very little town in Germany, very little town like 5,000 inhabitants, and my, my mom, my stepfather, who used to live in hamburg. They uh got married and then they told us, okay, we're gonna move to the south of germany.

Kristina: 27:40

You won't know it, it's a very little village and I I thought, okay, that's so, that's so crazy yes, and then I met this guy phil is his name again when I visited my mom and he did his world travel tour. He was back home then and, yeah, it was funny. And that is another example, for something that I like is when couch surfing when you get to know each other through couch surfing and you still stay in contact or you visit each other that is a development I really appreciate right, yeah right, yeah, yeah interesting this, what you touch, yeah, like about that you can visit kind of.

Igar: 28:26

You have friends, not necessarily in daily contact or something, but you can always know that like there is a person in this place where you can at least hang out or at least to see it again, or like, yeah, to have some good time because you already had such, or like you're curious how how this person changed, just like you know, like all this thing, yeah, and in general, yeah, how, like, how was this like couchsurfing experience and maybe travel, somehow experience like contribute to your personal growth?

Kristina: 29:02

I think for me it was, it was totally perfect, and it still is, um, totally perfect, and it still is In several ways, because I just talked about it with another girl yesterday. Sometimes it's hard for me to do I I always try to be very polite and sometimes it's hard for me to stick to what I uh, what my needs are, and being a people pleaser and being too polite, and especially in couchsurfing situations, it sometimes comes to the point that, for example, when I'm the guest and I would like to have some privacy, but my hosts want to show me the city, I don't want to be rude or unpolite, I don't want to be rude or impolite, but I also have to have to communicate. I'm, I'm tired or whatever. And this, for my personal growth, as you asked for it is is always a topic. And yeah, there there was a situation, a couch surfing situation.

Kristina: 30:28

It was again my, my best friend, when she came back from canada the year after our canada trip, we made a trip, uh, in europe and we went to a guy and he was verified, but he had no references so far. But he was looking fun at his pictures and he seemed to be sympathetic and yeah, so we we decided to give him a chance to get a reference, because if you only go to people who already have references, the other one will have no chance to get one. So it was kind of a fairness thing and he looked funny, yes, and then we went there and he was funny he was, he was a nice dude, but um, yeah, I don't know how to say um, his flat was not as clean as I expected it to be.

Igar: 31:28

I thought you don't mind.

Kristina: 31:30

Yes, I thought too, and I already told you what I don't have problems with.

Kristina: 31:36

But, when we came to his place and he opened the door, it was this smell of like when you have something in the laundry and it is wet but you don't take it out of the washing machine. You know this smell, yes, but he was really nice and so we were staying there and he gave us the blankets and the sheets and the smell was just everywhere. And then we asked him to take us out, was in france to take us out for showing us around a little bit and showing us a place where we can eat something special in france. And then, okay, I can, I can show you some dining stuff. And then he took us to a place where we can buy pizza and we were like, okay, that's nice, but pizza is something we already know and we also have in germany, so can you tell us where we can get any french stuff?

Kristina: 32:41

and he said, no, I'm sorry, I, I don't know these, these places. And yeah, we went back and we were sitting in his kitchen and, um, there was a huge mountain of litter, like it was not something that was, um, I think the most of it was paper, so it was no food or things like that. But it was such a funny situation because he had a paper in his hand and he threw it to the top of the mountain and then, step by step by step by step, it rolled until the bottom, until it was laying on the ground, and he looked at us and he just started laughing. That's it. And so he was.

Kristina: 33:39

It was not my kind of style, but in a way he was lovely and he was some kind of cute, but it was just not our way. And we were trying how to deal with this situation because, um, we didn't want to be some kind of to to um, be edgy or to be really rude and to say a person how he or she has to live right and um, we didn't feel comfortable at his place and so we decided to leave one day earlier, go to the next station, and we didn't leave him a reference yeah, because you had this dilemma.

Igar: 34:24

Like should you?

Kristina: 34:24

would you?

Igar: 34:25

stay, wouldn't you stay?

Kristina: 34:27

yes, yeah, yeah, and I know this dilemma yeah and I know references that's what they are for to usually. It should have been the case that I should have been honest and said, okay, yeah, but I just couldn't it was heartbreaking for me yeah.

Igar: 34:47

Yeah, I know I know I had like similar situation. It was like in one case I was like, yeah, kind of maybe would stay already if I know a person, but my feelings was not so Not about happy, but I didn't really enjoy and so like I'm kind of here there, so if it would be stars, yeah, yeah like from one to five, it's not only one thing. I would put like three or something you know.

Igar: 35:17

This is yes but yeah, but it's not about and I understand a little bit couchsurfing that they don't put stars because, and then it will be a little bit like this racing system. Yeah, like it's a little bit like a this raising system. Yeah, like it's a little bit. I think it's a little bit almost commercial yeah, I don't even know how to classify, like in this black mirror thing, you know like who has better rating?

Igar: 35:41

or something he is yes or no, right? Yeah, one or zero, simple as that. Yeah so, but yeah, I know like that sometimes this dilemma definitely and you had several things right like so, like another, like it come to your mind about your personal growth.

Kristina: 36:01

Yes, yeah yes, that's, that's exactly the topic. And to uh, yeah, to stick to what I need and also to be honest.

Igar: 36:14

also to be honest to myself If I feel uncomfortable, then I should leave the situation and to find a way to deal with situations like that that sometimes you just have to be honest and to, yeah, just hold on that the other person is might be yeah, might be sad about it yeah, this is true, and this trip, like you're planning also to use like couchsurfing, but yeah, you already had a hostel, so nowadays you don't have a problem to how to say, like now, maybe, as you also mentioned, like you didn't have any host on the way. You booked a hostel so that you have this comfort. So how is your style of traveling of like upcoming travel?

Kristina: 37:14

I think I like the mixture because, um, I like it's interesting because, um, I was looking for hosts in another town and there was um one person and, uh, she offered a couch in a in a shared room and she has flatmates and so on, so the situation might might be not as comfortable as in comparison to that another person, um told that she is not at home but she would give her apartment so I could have a free apartment. And then I asked myself, well, what do I want? And I think I would prefer to stay with another person in certain situations, because that's what couch, what couch surfing for me, is about to spend time with people if possible, but from time to time, and that is why I like the mixture. In other situations maybe, um, if I had lots of social interactions and I need more privacy, and then, because I really need both, and then because I really need both extremes, then I would prefer the person who just says go to my apartment but I won't be there.

Kristina: 38:38

But usually you don't have it with couchsurfing, you just have it in hostels and, for example, in a hostel. It is important to me to have these curtains because I don't know who I'm staying with and I can't decide who I'm staying with exactly yeah and um, here it was the first time that I had a dorm only with ladies. Okay, I, how was?

Igar: 39:02

it it.

Kristina: 39:03

Yeah, it was really nice. I didn't thought about it like exactly the same thing, about doing a solo trip or not. I didn't even think about having a dorm, mixed or only with navies, but it was offered so I said, okay, why not? And um, then I realized it was much more comfortable for me. Um, not only because of the snoring that men usually more do, probably, I don't know yes, yes, yes yes, but it was also, it was kind of feeling comfortable like feeling with self minded people.

Igar: 39:50

I don't know how to say yes and also I can.

Kristina: 39:54

I can just go into my bed and um put the curtain in front of it and I don't have to explain myself, I don't have to apologize, I just do what I want to do, and if I want to talk to each other, I do so.

Igar: 40:07

But to talk to each other.

Kristina: 40:15

I do so, but when I do couch surfing, um, it's, it's different. So, as I like both, I think that I will. I like both. I would prefer couch surfing, um, but I'm also okay with the hostel and I think yeah yeah, yeah yeah, we will see yeah, and in general, where are you going?

Igar: 40:31

What are you planning to do nowadays? I mean the upcoming trip.

Kristina: 40:35

Yeah.

Igar: 40:36

What is your?

Kristina: 40:39

I always say that I don't plan, I just have ideas.

Igar: 40:42

Good, good, good. I like that actually.

Kristina: 40:46

I also say that I can be pretty spontaneous if I'm well prepared.

Igar: 40:52

Unwell.

Kristina: 40:53

No, when I'm well prepared.

Igar: 40:55

Ah, all right, okay, okay, okay, I can be spontaneous, nice.

Kristina: 40:58

Yeah, so my plan is to visit only two more cities where my grandparents were, and after that I am thinking about going to krakow and warsaw. Warsaw, I'm not sure, but yeah, probably. And then, um, I am thinking about going northwards, towards gdansk and stettin and so on, or probably to go south, maybe to Budapest or Prague, or further down to Slovenia and Croatia. And yeah, by now I don't know, and I don't know when to decide, but that will be the point of the day that I decide. That will be the point of the day that I decide. Um, yeah, at least what I would like to have during my holiday is one or two times the situation of me lying at the beach and just enjoying the sun and the beach, and, yeah, that that is a goal for me, that is a plan yeah, but should it be warm?

Kristina: 42:08

yes, okay, so then it's not baltic sea yeah, I don't know how warm the baltic sea is, but I don't know it's like it's ice okay, no, I don't know, it's super cold.

Igar: 42:21

I think I, yeah, I think it's all the year quite cold, even like, yeah, july, as we now, or like august, might be the warmest, but I think it's still still a little bit extreme. Not like swim, swim, like you know. Yeah, yeah, I never heard from people that. Like who?

Kristina: 42:41

yeah, okay, then I think I will be the last I was on baltic sea on in the may.

Igar: 42:47

It was so cold. My legs, like I was trying to go just below the knees and my these muscles below the knee how you call them.

Igar: 42:57

I don't know uh right, it's german, yeah, so, uh, we call them like if direct translation from russian it's called okay, but I don't know why, anyway, I don't know it was so. It's like I. I never felt the pain there, you know, but it was in pain. I was like, oh my god. But then, like the next day I can run inside faster with my brother, but uh, just like this for chicken, like yeah, but it's not for swimming, not for joy.

Igar: 43:26

Oh okay, even like for people who like this ice bath. I don't know, maybe, but like yeah, maybe, maybe only for this, yeah yeah, for just a refreshing try to create control, okay, you know, just yeah no, no, yeah, but again I. I've never been in july and august, so maybe you will go and dance. You can check in and decide like yeah, you know, maybe it will be your point of decision like, hey, now, like I want to go, fuck, I want to go warmer, you know or like here is okay, you know as I know me so far, I think I will tip my the tip of my toe in it and that's it well, interesting, interesting, interesting.

Igar: 44:07

yeah, uh, I like that you have like open kind of trip, like, and you can decide and here and there, and and about this, grandparents, is it like? Is it also some kind of you know the places, you already know, like, like what to do, what to?

Kristina: 44:24

see yeah.

Igar: 44:27

Or like do you know, is there somebody like I don't know, they live there and they died there. Or like they're still alive, no, no.

Kristina: 44:37

They came from there and they had to flee in World War II when they were kids. Ah, so they and so they went to the place that I was raised.

Igar: 44:48

Ah, I see, I see, I see.

Kristina: 44:49

And they got married and so on um, it's my mother's mother yeah, who came there and my father's father and my father's stepmother which was, it was my step grandma, but for me it was my grandma and um I am. I already asked that myself. Maybe it is because I'm in my 40s. It's a midlife crisis? I have no idea.

Kristina: 45:16

I have no idea, but it came up to me that these are my roots and I would like to learn more about what their lives was like and what they're also with with war, and what they had to suffer from and what they, how they came to, the things they enjoyed when I got to know them and, um, it's only one of them, my grandma, who's still alive and who can I can ask, but the other ones I cannot ask and I it's just a feeling that, um, probably by getting closer and in this way getting physically closer to my roots, maybe I can get also in another dimension, get closer to my roots. I have no idea if this works out or if it makes any sense, or if I just have a travel.

Igar: 46:27

I will see, but yeah, that's interesting, sweet, yeah, because this is something else. Like it's kind of again you travel but you have kind of sort of mission, you know, also like to get know your roots and to to get know, yeah, where it all comes from.

Kristina: 46:49

And grand, grand grand parents also like yeah, maybe you can find something else in this, uh, in this journey, interesting, very interesting I don't know if you've heard of the book, uh, because it was a german author, but she wrote about it's kind of epigenetic stuff that once you have a trauma, like like okay it is, it is given to your kids and to your grandkids and so on in the genes. And there are certain things that I'm struggling with and probably I'd like to know if there is a connection between it. I don't know. Yeah, this is an interesting theory.

Igar: 47:42

Yeah, but a little bit. I have a question because I think in our genes.

Igar: 47:53

I think we all will have traumas from wars or something, totally not only second world war, like you know like it's like all the human history, kind of like this yeah but interesting like that, because like now I'm not ready to to open this topic, because like it's something to think rather than to to give like some opinion just yeah yeah, it's like this first question came to my mind then, like we might have yeah, but again, or maybe it's opposite, not trauma with minus, but trauma with plus. Maybe it's something what make us how we are right. It's not necessary, should be yeah yeah, but like yeah, yes, you said like yeah. In your case, maybe something interesting.

Kristina: 48:32

It is a topic I want to discover more.

Igar: 48:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly yeah, interesting, like maybe I will ask a book do you recommend it? Do you read it?

Kristina: 48:42

uh, I didn't read the whole book because it was. It was kind of heavy for me, but I can really recommend it. Sabine Bode is the German author.

Igar: 48:54

Interesting and name there.

Kristina: 48:57

Sorry, the name of the book, die Kriegsenkel und Kriegskinder, like children of the war and grandchildren of the war.

Igar: 49:05

Okay okay, okay, interesting.

Kristina: 49:07

Yeah.

Igar: 49:08

I think I have one book, maybe more positive, but it's more to travel. Do you know this? Author, paulo Coelho.

Kristina: 49:18

Yes, he's a.

Igar: 49:19

Brazilian guy. Yeah, and he has his book Hippie or something like this.

Kristina: 49:24

Okay, I haven't heard of it. Yeah, it's not like about this.

Igar: 49:26

Veronica or something like this it's like hippie and hippie is his, apparently his biography, autobiography or something like this it's like hippie and hippie is his uh, apparently his biography, autobiography or something, and it's so much fun like he was telling all these stories like how he traveled, like here, there, yeah, like really random, but super funny, super kind of encouraging, and you can see it from 70s, from those times yeah, that's why hippie, so and different also.

Igar: 49:50

He was looking for himself like didn't know what the hell is going on in life before. He was like who he is nowadays, but interesting again, super interesting. So if you have like some vibe, like cheerful and for travel you can yeah? You can go for it all right. All right, all right, christine. Uh, very interesting topics we touched.

Igar: 50:12

To be honest, like make me think, well, some things yeah and uh, but I think we can slowly wrap up. But I wanna ask you still some like small things and I don't know, maybe you already have some, I don't know, maybe you already have some, I don't know kind of tips, advices, like for people, maybe to encourage people to travel, or feel free to share.

Kristina: 50:39

Oh wow. Well, like I told you, I only can be spontaneous if I'm prepared. Now I'm unprepared to answer this question. Just do it. Just do it. Yeah, I think that's it, because it's not that I it's. Yeah, regret is a huge word.

Kristina: 51:01

I don't regret not to travel or that I haven't traveled so much because I know why I didn't, but I would have loved to travel more in the past and I'm happy that I know that, although the circumstances are not that much better than they have been, but I just uh didn't want it to. There was this point where I didn't want it to wait for better circumstances and I just did it and I think, like the personal growth topic again, I think that was important for me and probably other people don't even need this encouragement. They just do and yeah, I think it's just when it's time to travel.

Igar: 51:50

You will so you think it's important to travel yes, totally, totally.

Kristina: 51:56

Yes, it's um.

Igar: 51:57

I think every person travels in a different way but yeah, this is actually agree, really agree yeah, and it's like should not be like I don't know just this instagram way of travel or whatever. Yeah, yeah, like totally like you can do whatever you want, like how you want, like walk around, like you know, cycle, yeah, flying I don't know just yeah, discover kind of or like it's not as there should be. Like different countries in your own country, explore right, yes, explore inside, it's not yeah explore outside.

Kristina: 52:29

Dalai Lama has this word said that once a year you should go to a place you haven't been before.

Kristina: 52:37

This guy is like you know, seems to be clever and I think, if really everyone just go once a year to a place and really go there, not just be there for an hour, but just really be there and, yeah, just yeah, connect with it and connect to the feeling and connect to the situation and, um, I think traveling is a good way to improve your, yeah, like connection power to get uh and to get along with. It forces you to get along with uh several. I won't call them problems.

Kristina: 53:23

I would challenges or tasks and that encourages you and once you solve these tasks, you don't have to worry about lots of stuff at home because, you can always say to yourself oh I'm, I managed to go to wherever you go and I managed to got some food and I managed to rent a bike or something, so you don't have to worry about anything at home yeah, that is kind of encouragement that comes through traveling.

Kristina: 53:56

And, um, I don't know if you heard of this scheme of panic zone and comfort zone. Like the comfort zone, it is like a ring and the comfort zone is in the middle of it, right, and the panic zone is in the outside, all right, comfort zone doesn't mean that it feels good, it just means it is what you're familiar to do. You just in this comfort zone, you're like you're born in this city, you were raised in this city, you live in this, you never left the city and you do the job. You're doing it for years and years and years and you're familiar to this system. And everything which is far away from that is in the panic zone. But in between those zones there's a ring and this is the growth zone.

Kristina: 54:48

And this is the growth zone. And the trick is not to. If you never left your city, you probably shouldn't go one way to Asia or do something really stupid, but you should go a little step outside. And then the growth zone you're in this zone, and then the comfort zone.

Kristina: 55:11

You're in this zone. And then the comfort zone growth and through this system you can get to the personal growth and you can enjoy it. Because the the huger your comfort zone is, the more possibilities you have to enjoy life and to appreciate what's around you and you have less reasons to be scared or to be concerned about interesting yeah very interesting, beautiful, thank you.

Igar: 55:37

Thank you, christine. Like I don't know how can people connect with you or follow your travel adventures if you want to share yes, uh, yes, sure, yeah, I think the best would be via couch surfing. All right, I I can. I can put the links uh in the description yeah to the podcast, right? So couch surfing can visit you.

Kristina: 56:01

Yes, in your I just wanted to mention that. All right, yeah, because detmold is a small town but a really lovely town. What the name is, detmold is a small town but a really lovely town.

Igar: 56:09

What are the names?

Kristina: 56:10

Detmold, detmold, okay, it is near Paderborn and Paderborner Pilsner is probably something you see also here in the supermarkets, although it's not the best one. Oh, really, yeah, okay. And Detmold, yeah, really, come to my place. I love to have people with me and to show them around. And, yes, I would like to give back some of the experiences that I was able to get.

Igar: 56:41

Oh sweet, thank you, thank you, high five, high five.

Kristina: 56:45

Thank you.

Igar: 56:47

And thank you for listening. Hope you enjoyed this episode and looking forward to see you in next episodes or somewhere around the globe.