“Home Sweet Home” Questionnaire #10: Doris Neubauer.
Name: Doris Neubauer
Twitter: @lilmsitchyfeet
Website: littlemissitchyfeet.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Littlemissitchyfeet
1.) Tell us a little bit about yourself and how your passion for travelling started.
I suppose I inherited the travel bug from my aunt, who travelled the world – places like Pakistan, Indonesia – alone on her bike(s) in the 70s and 80s. I am glad I did, even though I am the only one in my family now whose feet are constantly itching and whose thoughts are wandering most of the time. I am just grateful I found a partner who knows this disease quite well.
I have been on months-long trips, several ones – and still, my bucket list gets longer and longer. My style: Couchsurfin´, backpackin´, roadtrippin´, volunteerin´ and livin´. I love to deeply experience a culture and connect with both old and new friends.
2.) Where is home?
Based on where I was born and where I have most of my belongings: Austria. I grew up in the South of Lower Austria, lived in Vienna for about 13 years and moved to the North of Lower Austria recently, about 40 minutes away from Vienna.
But honestly, I have to admit that I don´t know where home is – or rather where home is not. So based on my heart, I feel at home wherever I meet amazing, like-minded people and wherever I can do something useful, participate in an idea and share stories. So, it was a challenge for me to decide which questionnaire I should answer…
3.) How did you get there? Have you lived there all your life, moved there because of College or just fell in love with the city/town on one of your trips?
How I landed here? Because my heart chose to fell in love with a boy who lives here :)
4.) What does your living situation look like? Give us a brief description (city or countryside, apartment or house, messy or neat-freak, roomies, pets, plants etc.)
I live with 5 other girls in Wimbledon. I love Wimbledon because it’s so close to central London but it has a village feel with nice bars, cafés, restaurants and the huge Wimbledon Common where I like to go to for long walks. Our house is quite big with a nice big garden and it’s lovely at the minute because we have daffodils and snowdrops sprouting up.
Right now, we live in a rather small apartment on the countryside – stuffed with souvenirs from his trips and mine. I came back from 7 months in South America 6 weeks ago, and as we moved to an old farm house soon (his, not mine) – or let´s say, hopefully soon – there´s no reason to unpack all my bags here. The advantage is that I am not collecting lots of things right now because there´s simply no space, but there is the disadvantage that you are greeted by a pile of shoes when opening the door to the apartment, my clothes are almost falling out of the closet and we cannot be in the bathroom together without stumbling upon each other’s feet. It´s quite a challenge from being on the road alone, couchsurfing here and there back to living as a couple in the Austrian countryside.
5.) What’s your favorite spot in your apartment or house & why?
My favorite spot in the apartment would be the winter garden / balcony, if I spent more time there. But really, it is the green couch in the middle of the living room. Not because it´s so comfortable (it´s not) but because there, my partner and me share stories, start the day exchanging ideas in the morning and end the day talking about our experiences in the evening. It´s just a very “we&us”-place, the couch.
6.) Do you prefer books or movies (plus what’s your favorite one)?
I love to read books on my Kindle.
And I also love to watch movies while knitting my jacket out of the beautiful yellow Bolivian wool I bought there.
My favorite book or movie – always the one I am reading or watching at the moment. I love variety. And I love inspiration.
7.) Where & how do you write your blog articles? Do you start with a rough draft or get right to it?
Right to it is the only way for me – not to mention the pre-thinking about the article for some days in advance. I have one spot in the house where I usually write, a light spot with lots of paper around me (clippings, inspirations, thoughts, scribbles), a cup of coffee and plenty of water.
8.) What does a perfect day in your hometown look like? What season is it? Are you inside or outdoors? Do you hang out with friends or family?
My perfect day in the area where I live takes place outside, walking through the woods, maybe taking a stroll alongside the Danube or relaxing in the grass at the lake and later celebrating the day with a good local dish along and a home-made wine at a local Heuriger. Main ingredients for the perfect day are good weather with lots of sun (so best spring/summer/early autumn), good movement, good people, good talks and good food. According to the saying: Eat, drink & have fun!
9.) Name three spots in your hometown, which you’d probably not find in a guidebook but you could recommend to travellers. Tell us what’s special about them.
In this case, I take Vienna as my hometown – because you cannot find the village I live in in any guide books.
I have always taken people to:
1.) Am Himmel (At Heaven): Where you cannot only experience the green part of Vienna, but also a beautiful view at the city AND you can find out what your tree sign is according to the Celtics.
2.) Beautiful small boutiques: in the 6th and 7th district to go for shopping and support local, green, fair & sustainable designers (check out the area of Lindengasse / Kirchengasse)
3.) A typical Heuriger: a little bit outside of the city center of Vienna to experience good local food & wine for nothing, such as Weinhof Zimmermann.
10.) What’s your favorite local dish (if you have one in your country/town, please tell us which one)? Can you cook it & what are the main ingredients?
I am a vegetarian, so I mostly cook Asian, Indian dishes and Pasta. But one of my all-time-favorites (maybe because it reminds me of my childhood) is egg dumplings OR cheese dumplings.
Whenever I am on the road, staying with someone, I occupy their kitchen and try to prepare one of these dishes for them. Even though, I always have a hard time finding the right cheese for the cheese dumplings, I prefer to make them.
What you need:
- Flour
- Water
- Eggs
- Salt
- Pepper
- Onions
- Cheese
- And green salad, so that you at least have one healthy dish on the table to soak up the greasy, heave stuff.
11.) How much does 1 liter (or one gallon) of milk and petrol cost today?
Liter of milk – mh, I don´t drink milk, so soya milk it is and it costs about 2,25 €.
Petrol: 1,47 € for Super 98.
12.) Where are you right now, on which device to you answer this questionnaire and what shoes are you wearing (if possible please add a picture)?
I am sitting in the living room, my table is full of paper (as usual), no coffee but a glass of water in front of me. My device is my best companion, my Sony Vaio, which was with me on the road as well. And I wear nothing but my nail polish on my feet.
13.) Last but not least: What does “home” mean to you?
I don´t have a certain picture or image of home but get the feeling of being welcome, being understood, being part of something. And maybe, there´s also a bit of Austria in the word home as it also symbolizes comfort, quietude and something constant, well-known, never-changing.
Want to be a part of this series?
If you want to be a part of our series, just go to the “Home Sweet Home” article and download the appropriate questionnaire. We’d really like to read your stories :)
Participants so far:
#1: Ulli Maier
#2: Nisa Maier
#3: Shvyia Nath
#4: Rika Huang
#5: Yvonne Zagermann
#6: Dario Endara
#7: Frankie Thompson
#8: Roy van den Bos
#9: Monica Stott
#10: Doris Neubauer
#11: Amanda Slavinsky
#12: Edna
#13: Casper Oppenhuis de Jong
#14: Ashley Abroad
#15: Inma Gregorio
