Karina2

I'm Karina, I'm in my early 40's, and I live in a lovely town in the Spessart region (in Germany). I have been dreaming of living in a small town, close to nature and away from city hustle, for almost my entire 30's, and I'm so happy that this dream finally came true. 😊 I love the peaceful atmosphere, the trees all around, living more simply (in a good way) and being able to focus on what is essential. And the bakery. We have such a great bakery in town. 😊

My mom shared the same dream and moved here too. We're best friends and enjoy spending time together. I'm an aunt to two wonderful little girls (1 and 3 years old), and a mentor to an awesome 12-year-old girl in Nepal (we've been writing emails to each other for 2 years now, through a program at her school, and it brings me so much joy).

I'm always curious about other countries. During my 30's I traveled a lot, especially to Ireland and Portugal, two countries that I love dearly. My longest journey so far took me to Peru.

I love everything creative. I like crafting with paper, crocheting (especially little things that fit in an envelope so that I can send them with letters), and I love drawing. I enjoy writing letters.

If you don't receive a swap from me, please notify me. I send out my swaps on time. I'm so happy that I discovered swapbot, and it brings me a lot of joy. So in case something doesn't arrive, it has to be a postal problem and I'll try my best to figure it out.

I love to receive happy mail, and I think it’s fun to receive a surprise and to get a glimpse of somebody’s creativity (what you put together, maybe craft, draw, or decorate, depending on what kind of swap it is). It's always so cool to receive something creative someone made. It makes me happy and inspires me. Therefore, I don’t want to list too many specific Likes or Dislikes. This list is just for inspiration. 😊

💚 I love nature, and I like to celebrate the Wheel of the Year (a nature-based spiritual calendar with festivals that celebrate our connection to nature).

💚 Trees and the forest

💚 Irish leprechauns

💚 Portuguese azulejos (beautifully painted ceramic tiles)

💚 Special things related to your country

💚 Stickers, postcards, notepapers, stationery

💚 Handmade items

💚 Inspiring quotes

💚 Book or movie recommendations (especially when they are balm for the soul, inspiring, or just lovely. I'm not really into thriller or stuff like that.)

💚 Both coffee and tea (I like most kinds of teas. The only thing that I don’t like is when it’s with vanilla, cinnamon, and stuff like that. I prefer if there's nothing like that added in the tea.)

💚 Autumn: the coziness, the cooler days after the summer heat, and the colorful leaves on the trees

💚 Yoga (especially yin yoga)

💚 Vietnamese dishes, Irish breakfast, pasteis de nata (a Portuguese dessert that’s so delicious), tarte flambée (an Alsatian speciality) ... I like delicious food, feel free to share your favorite recipe with me. 😊

💚 Surprises

💚 And: I value quality over quantity. So you will make me happier with something special rather than sending as many items as possible. For example, if you could send a postcard or stickers that you got from a local shop near you, instead of something that is easy to order on the internet from everywhere in the world, I would be overjoyed. 😊

I love reading. My favorite books are by authors from various places in the world.

• "Conversations with my Cat" (Conversaciones con mi gata) by Eduardo Jáuregui. He is a psychologist specialized in the sense of humour and positive psychology, and to me there is so much wisdom in his novel.

• "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. There is something magical about this book.

• "The Little Book of Joy" by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, a wonderful children's book that's beautifully illustrated.

• I also love Lisa Currie's "Surprise Yourself", an activity book with lots of cool ideas to try something new.

I like beautiful and inspiring movies. Just like with books, my favorite movies come from different countries:

• "The Intouchables" is a wonderful movie from France about an extraordinary friendship.

• "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" is my favorite movie at the beginning of autumn, and such a beautiful story.

• "The Velvet Queen" (La panthère des neiges) is an amazing documentary in which photographer Vincent Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson attempt to see a snow leopard in Tibet.

• "Invictus" (directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon), about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.

Thank you for reading & happy swapping!