I first met the wonderful and stylish Neubauer sisters – Toni and Thea – when I went to The Hive Conference in Berlin 2 years ago. The German sisters work together on sisterMAG, an independent digital publishing project with Toni taking the business lead, and Thea (stay tuned for a future Boarding Pass) on the design side. They come from a creative family, as their mother designs and sews a lot of their clothes (for the magazine too!). The last issue of the mag was all about Italy, and they feature contributors from around the world. Stay tuned for their next project – CVmag – coming soon! Thanks, Toni! –Anne

home town:
Freiberg which is a small town in the state of Saxony / Germany

Countryside near my hometown Freiberg

where you live now:
Berlin! During my studies I moved 11 times for different universities, exchange semesters and internships. So when it came to deciding for a place for my first job, I wanted to choose a city I could imagine living in for a longer period of time. Berlin was perfect for that as it is a huge city with a lot of history, culture etc. going on, it’s very international and future-oriented.

Always happy when it’s going back to Berlin

last trip taken:
My last trip was to the small village of Kallstadt in the German wine region Pfalz. We went there for an interview with a winemaker we did for our new magazine CVmag which we’re planning to launch mid of this year.

next trip on deck:
For our summer holidays we plan a trip to England to see some of the beautiful countryside like in the Cotswolds, to visit the great historical monuments and stately homes and to find some of the English atmosphere you often read about in books.

one place you would go back to again and again:
Definitely Italy! As I explained in the editorial of the latest sisterMAG– the big Italy issue – I have a huge crush on this country, which began really early on in my life. I visit Italy at least once a year and I’m still amazed each time, how beautiful and versatile it is.

Toni, Evi and Thea in Bellagio, Italy

Puglian beach near Fasano
Colourful Puglia in Bari

place you’d most likely recommend a friend go visit:
I would recommend Germany, maybe the Baltic Sea or some of the cities like Leipzig or Potsdam because they are not known as much as touristic places outside of Germany but they are really beautiful.

Baltic Sea

preferred method of transportation:
I have to admit, I’m a big fan of driving by car. I just drove 700 km back from the Pfalz and I loved it. You really feel the difference in the landscape, see all the names of places and think I would like to stop there one day. You can listen to the radio and follow hour-long discussions and I actually get my best creative ideas while driving.

Favourite means of transportation: my car!


place you’ve never been but dying to go:
I haven’t seen a lot from the US yet which I definitely want to do soon. Especially the West Coast is on my list.

place you’d never go back:
There aren’t really places where I wouldn’t go back to, but I definitely wouldn’t live again in the town where I did my Bachelor degree in the South-West of Germany.

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
A 2-week holiday in Rome, not as a tourist but doing a language course. I spend most of my free time alone, taking in the city and contemplating about life in general and my own specifically.

Rome – view over the eternal city

how do you prepare for a trip?
I always search for novels that are set in the country or area I am visiting. By reading them I’m diving into the culture and history of the place.

how do you record your travels when you’re traveling?
I’ve kept a diary and many scrapbooks since I was 14. While traveling it becomes my companion for everything memorable.

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
First of all, I’m not a photographer – even less since starting sisterMAG because people who are real experts in it now surround me. However, I always do snapshots of things with my iPhone I want to remember, e.g. shops, names of people I want to read more about, ideas for articles etc.

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Not many

what’s in your “designer travel kit” ?
My diary, glue, a pair of scissors and my technical gadgets (iPhone, iPad and MacBook)

My new diary / sketchbook / travelbook – you find a video tutorial how to make it in sisterMAG N°7

what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
I try to keep my diary already during the trip (which I’m not always successful in) because I know I won’t work on it after I’m back home. My diary is a kind of scrapbook with text and any memorable snippets like tickets, postcards etc.

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
A pair of shoes.

Typical sight: Evi and Toni inspecting local shoe shops ;-)

LINKS

• sisterMAG + blog.sister-mag.com
• @sister_mag + @tonneu
• facebook.com/sister.magazin
• pinterest.com/sistermag + pinterest.com/bassky
• vimeo.com/sistermag
• instagram.com/sister_mag + instagram.com/tonneu

P.S. I’m teaching MAP MAKING on Skillshare! Sign up anytime :)