We are Linda and Caro. Previously living in Hannover, Münster, Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg and Cologne (all Germany). Previously running fashion- and lifestyle blog 'Like A Riot'. Previously in search of honest happiness, infinite freedom, ourselves and a home that was supposed to mean more than just four walls.
We found each other in first year of secondary school. We've always been restless, especially in our minds and hearts. When we met we all of a sudden could be restless together, develop each other's figments further while everyone around us just rolled their eyes. We shared our biggest dreams and hopes and understood each other perfectly, without words even. When we shared all those thoughts with others we most of the time got labeled as phantasts and weirdos. Everyone thought we and our friendship would be odd, especially since we preferred to spend our free time painting and writing poems over drinking in the clubs of town. We laughed together until everything hurt, we always lived in the now (but never in the here) and didn't think that much about consequences, we wanted to conquer the world together (just not the one we lived in) - something drew us to a far far away magical reality. So we became a lone pack and roam through Mordor and Lothlorien as a duo, ever since.
After finishing our apprenticeships and university we started running 'Like A Riot' full time and self employed (we always wanted to be independent job-wise and work in the creative field). We needed an outlet for all the things going on in our heads and a blog seemed to be the perfect platform. But what started as a great adventure more and more became some sort of a burden. We got carried away by 'what all the others are doing' and sometimes our stomaches got twisted because of all the talk and events we suddenly were a part of and that just didn't mean anything to us. Loners by heart that huge fashion crowd felt nothing but wrong most of the times. We felt as misplaced as we did back in school. Always led by our hearts all of a sudden our heads dictated tempo and actions. The knots in our chests got bigger and bigger and we didn't really do anything about it. The love for the job constantly decreased. In the end it doesn't matter how much you are willing to work to reach a goal 'cause if your head says 'yes' but your heart screams 'no' and you still continue to follow your head then you might get somewhere but most certainly you won't reach a goal that truly makes you happy. Not happiness like in feeling content an no happiness like in peace of mind. We always tried new things and has countless 'fresh new starts', we put all our eggs in one basket over and over again - without even knowing if we could actually financially survive as bloggers. Yet, we didn't doubt our choice for one second 'though the future was nothing but uncertain. We regularly fell together by the ears over work, the friendship started to be afflicted by it. We overthought, discussed, tried to change something but every single time our heads won over our hearts and told us that we just had to keep going. We were spiraling. Of course we had amazing moments and projects because of the blog. We loved taking pictures and writing concepts but nothing seemed to work as well as street style outfits or talking about our private life - both not really our greatest passion. We do indeed love fashion, always have and always will but we just didn't seem to fit into the scene and writing about it wasn't fulfilling, at all. Struggling between what felt right and what worked best we shared more and more about ourselves and got sucked into piling up clothes we never really wore. We felt more and more uncomfortable doing so.
2015 we make a decision that changes our life completely - we spend a summer in Iceland. It's been Linda's dream since forever and what's Linda's dream is Caro's dream (and vice versa). We move from Cologne back to Hannover and into our childhood bedrooms to save some money and work even harder to bring up the amount needed to go abroad for almost three months. Sitting on the plane to Keflavík in May '15 we have no clue how much this idea - formed on a warm summer day in in our shared apartment in Cologne - will turn our life upside down. We land, drive through those magical landscapes and all of a sudden we have this overwhelming 'this is it' feeling. As if this would be exactly where we have to be, where we are supposed to be, even. We arrive at the converted garage which we'll call our home for the next 96 days. It's tiny, sordid and smelly - we still love it. We settle in and enjoy every single minute of cleaning, rearranging and organizing our stuff. One week later we hit the bars. In one of them, Caro meets Logi. They get married the twentieth of September 2017. The three of us explore Logi's incredible home country in his old blue Chevrolet. We gaze at waterfalls, dance in the wind and bathe in hot rivers. More and more we fall in love with the land of fire and ice. The last week of our stay Linda meets Einar. They get married the twelfth of October 2017. When we sit on the plane back to Germany we are filled to the brink with happy memories but are hearts get torn apart more and more with every additional mile between us and Iceland.
Back home, everything feels somehow surreal. After a few days we are completely drained and it seems like all the warmth and happiness got lost somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. One week later we've booked our return trip to the island far north.Then another one in November, this time without a return ticket. End of 2015 we are completely certain, we want to, no, we need to stay in Iceland - this is where we feel at home. The four of us move into our first shared apartment in January 2016, in August our cat Pommes moves in. That winter, we dance under the Northern Lights, celebrate a first Christmas miles and miles away from our families, we spend NYE drinking Cider in a hotpot somewhere in the middle of nowhere. In January 2017 we get engaged, in July we move into a house next to the ocean and adopt our second cat Mausi from the shelter. We are happy. We are content. Iceland changed us in so many ways. We are no longer in search of a place called home, we ARE home. We don't go through life as stressed as we used to anymore, we adapted the relaxed lifestyle of the Icelanders. When we are roaming around in the wild breathtaking nature we feel our hearts beat for this amazing country. And yet, no peace of mind.
In August 2017 we finally realize what's missing to complete and utter happiness. The blog as it is, the fashion and lifestyle page Like A Riot is nothing more than dragging us down and for the first time in all those years we admit it to ourselves. This isn't us, this isn't what we are passionate about. So we let go - one moment to the other. Like A Riot soon becomes Dear Heima and we write a new (online) story. One from our hearts, not our heads. One filled with what we truly love. Iceland, the northern hemisphere, traveling and adventures. It's an ode to our home. Dear Heima.
