This is going to be a story about both our first time Couchsurfing, which happened to be with the same guy: Chris from New York. For the ones of you who do not know what "Couchsurfing" is - it is fairly simple: There is this website (www.couchsurfing.com), where you can sign up and look for free places to sleep. Traditionally you sleep on a couch in someone's apartment, sometimes you even get a bed and - if you are especially lucky - your own room (but do not expect that to happen on a regular basis). It is a great way for broke travelers like us to be able to go on a trip regardless their empty wallet and to engage with the culture and everyday life of the locals. Just keep an open mind and your priorities in order and you will be guaranteed to have a unique and unforgettable experience. You might even make a friend along the way, which is exactly what happened to us. 

My first contact with Couchsurfing was back in 2013 when I was living in the United States and wanted to visit christmassy New York. I had just heard about this website and got curios, so I signed up and sent out my first few surfing requests. After a few declines I received a very nice message from this guy living on 4th Avenue offering his couch to me and my friend Tiana. There cannot be any harm in that, right? Well, imagine this:

You arrive in the city at 12AM and the bus driver lets you off in a dark, abandoned alley and you have no idea where you are. "Okay, no need to panic. We only have to find 4th Avenue and Chris' apartment now. Easy peasy. No need to panic." Then you run around in circles - because turns out 4th Avenue is pretty long - without finding the right apartment but instead crossing ways with a bunch of creepy people in the biggest city you have ever been to, not knowing anyone. This is probably the time when you actually start panicking, just a little bit. "So, where is this apartment now?...we have already been here...this guy looks scary...he is coming closer...OMG! We are gonna die out here!! Okay, he just passed. No need to worry...but WHERE ON EARTH IS THAT APARTMENT?! Oh, here it is."

We had passed said apartment three times already by the time we actually found it. But our little adventure did not end there. After an actual doorman told us where to go - you have no idea just how fancy we felt in that moment - we ended up standing in front of the door we thought was our host's both being too scared to knock. What if it was a rapist or a serial killer? You never know. While we were still deciding who would stand in front of the other and take the first bullet, we already knocked and prepared for the worst. Fortunately, nothing happened. I mean literally, nothing happened. Turns out we knocked on the wrong door at 2AM in the morning. I guess the person was not at home. But Chris was, and we had loads of fun getting to know him better over the next few days. He definitely was not a creep and the best first Couchsurfing host possible!

Read about my second time staying at Chris's, our summer trip to NYC and how we ended up being friends with our Couchsurfing host in Kathi's post on Saturday.

xx Lena


Photo taken in: New York City, USA


Hey, we’re Kathi and Lena – you might know that already – and we’re flying floordrobe. We became friends a couple of years back, when we were Au Pairs in the exciting American State of New Hampshire (read all about how we met here) and soon realized we shared a deep love for the 90's, tiny necklaces and airplanes. Not to forget clothes and any other kind of transportation method. 

Since then we've both moved back to Europe - and travelled thousands of miles, sometimes living out of a suitcase and sometimes off a floordrobe next to our actual closet. Because why hang your clothes up if you can keep them in a pile on the floor?

What we're trying to say is this: We are not perfect. We don't have perfectly looking closets or rooms - even if we're trying really hard sometimes. We are messy sometimes. (Some more than others.) And we are in no way trying to tell you how to live your life. All we want to do is share our love for unknown designers, artists and little shops and restaurants we discover on our travels, combined with the stories behind them. (Since both of us have a hard time shutting up, well, ever, and we love talking to strangers there really are a lot of stories to tell!)


At the moment we are based in Vienna, Austria and Tallinn, Estonia, so there will be a lot of stories about those two cities. But we'll always let you know about our travels as well. (Check out our future plans here.)


Before we'll let you discover flying floordrobe on your own, here is a description of what you will find in each category:

Dreamy destinations is all about our future travel plans and our bucket list.

Favorite finds is where you will find posts about our favorite artists, designers and shops. The ones we found when we were not actually allowed to spend any more money on another notebook or cute stuff we didn't really need but bought it anyways.

Master meals - where to eat and drink. The restaurant, bars and coffeeshops we like best.

Wonderful world is pretty much the place with all the stories that didn't fit anywhere else. It's subcategories Austria and Estonia will contain every story on these countries.

So that's flying floordrobe. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing and creating it.

xxx
Lena and Kathi


Photo taken in: Death Valley, USA

Hey you! We’re so happy you made it all the way to flying floordrobe. Even happier than we are about making it all the way to CREATING flying floordrobe. (It’s a miracle it actually is here, since it took us a looooong time to finish this page. Let's just say html is not our best friend. But hey, we made it and that's all that matters, right?)

When we first met a couple of years ago, both Au Pairs in the States, we had no idea we would become blogging buddies in the future.
Actually, when Lena was sitting next to me in my favorite diner two hours after we first met and didn’t shut up about her bag that got stolen at a party five billion years ago, I only had three thoughts:

Firstly: I didn’t know there was somebody else besides me that had such a huge need to share stories nobody else cared about.

Secondly: She’s weird. But she’s got great style.

Thirdly: She must have really, really liked that bag.

Only a couple of hours later I knew I didn’t only like her style but the whole person behind it. We were sitting in her pitch-black back yard, whispering away because we didn’t want to wake up her host family but not wanting to part ways yet either because there was just too much to chat about. It wasn’t love at first sight – or rather at the first story – but it definitely was love. In a friendship kind of way. (It was even bigger love when I found out that Lena’s wardrobe was a dream come true and being friends with her gave me unlimited access!)

Fast forward to 2015: We’re still friends. She annoys me sometimes, but hey. We can’t all be perfect, am I right? Also, I rarely wear her clothes, due to a couple of thousand kilometers between us. But I love her, even without taking advantage of her clothes. And I am beyond excited to start this blog with her!

______
Okay, my side of the whole story is slightly different!
After reading Miss Kathi's little story here, I have to clarify two things: Yes, I loved my bag very much (it was freaking fabulous!) and, yes, I am still mad at that sucker who stole it. I mean, seriously, who does that? (If you are reading this right now, I hope you still find it hard to look yourself in the mirror) I could tell you the story of how my bag got stolen, but “apparently” it is not interesting enough - as if!

Anyways, back to the evening I met Kathi. I remember getting a message on Facebook from someone who had the exact same name like my childhood best friend claiming she lived in the same town as me. The girl was an Au Pair, as well, and she wanted to meet me. She was from Vienna. I met up with her anyway. 

Me acting weird was probably due to the fact that I wasn’t sure if she understands my dialect and trying my best at proper German. Well, obviously, I suck at it. After overcoming the language barrier and the stolen bag issue, we already made plans of moving in together (mostly because of the massive walk-in closet we had in our minds back then), Kathi became my very first Viennese friend and made me move to Vienna in the first place. 

It did not take long until we discovered that we both have a weakness for barely known and unique designers, shops and cafés all over the world and that we ain't afraid to show it, show it...So, here we are, trying to share our special travel treasures and odd stories with you guys. We are by no means experts; we are just two girls who love to get lost and find themselves some stylish junk along the way. And we'd love it if you joined us on our journey.

xxx
Lena and Kathi


Photo taken in: Budapest, Hungary
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