I mean COUCHSURFING. Most probably everybody already knows what's the idea behind this fun word. I have to admit, for a long long time, I wasn't sure if this kind of traveling would work for me... Not that I'm not adventurous enough... it was more the matter of safety. You hear crazy stories all the time and being a young woman traveling cross country, you have take some precautions into consideration. Nonetheless, a calling of wanting to go through new experiences was much stronger than reasoning (and our wallet abilities...) this time around. Therefore, me and my dear friend Maja decided to give couchsurfing a try. It wasn't her first time, she's done it before in Europe, but never in America. So we were both kind of newbies at this. Anyways, I left all of the people searching to her, we had about 3 months before our trip was about to start, so we figured - plenty of time to find the right hosts. If anybody is in a position to look for a couch in advance, do it. You'll have a chance (hopefully) to go through options, keep in touch with the ones who responded to you and maybe (definitely) become friends (on Facebook...) before you even meet in person. This is how it worked out beautifully for us.
Now to the point! Like I mentioned in the last post, our first stop was Chicago. The place we got to crashed and people we stayed with were just THE BEST. I know, I couldn't put it more simple, but honestly, those generous human beings became our family right away, words can't describe how grateful we were/ARE to have met them. They are simply the best and if you want to know why, just keep reading/watching.
Our welcome pack - they truly knew how to get straight to our hearts.... and taste buds.
Garret's handcrafted popcorn - a Chicago tradition for nearly 65 years!
a mix of sweet CaramelCrisp and savory CheeseCorn.... <drool>
Ok, enough with the teasing, who are those people that opened their home to us and showered us with love (and booze...) ???
MEET THE MILLERS!
This beautiful couple is truly the most inspiring, invigorating, crazy, adventurous, fun fun fun twosome that I have ever met! They travel the world all year long, take on new challenges every single day, laugh every minute of the day and are just so fun to watch and be around. Those three days we got to spend with them were filled with new experiences and lasted us a lifetime of great memories. Nothing but love for them!
And here's what we got to do with them those short, but fun 3 days in the city:
Our first night in Chicago - we ended up socializing with this beautiful group of ladies from Women's Drinking (formerly Book) Club :) It was truly inspiring (and delicious) to get to talk to each one of them.
The next day we got to chill, wine and dine and listen to music at the Grant Park...
and.....
.... end the night with some fireworks and great conversations...
... oh, and let's not forget peanut fights at the Monks Pub we stopped by on our way home!
Another day - Pregaming at the rooftop before heading to the North River Food Festival....
.... and being properly welcomed to a new group of friends! = S'more - pregaming.....
...and more - tasting...
They even made sure we got to the bus station safely and we are not thirsty anymore... ;)
<3
Thank you for your hospitality, Lindsey and Brian!
SIEMA!
P.S. They really set the BAR high!
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