diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index a4631d3..62baa55 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use regex::Regex;
 use remote::RemoteSync;
 use storage::{AuthStorage, Memo, MemoStorage, SQLiteStorage, StateStorage, JsonStorage};
 use utils::{find_by_regex, parse_human_duration, HumanDisplay};
+use std::path::PathBuf;
 
 const GIT_VERSION: &str = git_version!();
 const PKG_VERSION: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
@@ -68,15 +69,32 @@ enum Commands {
 
 fn main() {
 	let args = Cli::parse();
-	//let home_path = std::env!("HOME").to_string(); //this is linux-only
-	let mut db_path: std::path::PathBuf = dirs::home_dir().unwrap();
-	db_path.push(".local/share/memo-cli.db"); //+ "/.local/share/memo-cli.db";
-										  //WARNING: this is only for testing, it has no proper error handling and will panic is HOME is invalid or None
 
-	if let Some(db) = args.path {
-		db_path = std::path::PathBuf::from(db);
+	//might want to move the pathfinding to its own function
+	let mut db_path: PathBuf;
+	let filename = "memostorage.db"; //TODO: make this configurable
+
+	if let Some(db) = args.path { //if we are given a starting path from command line, set it to that
+		db_path = PathBuf::from(db);
+	} else { //else use the current path, also should not browse up if path is specified
+		db_path = std::env::current_dir().unwrap();
+		db_path.push(filename); //check if file exists in current folder
+
+		while !db_path.exists() && !db_path.parent().is_none() {
+			db_path.pop().pop(); //browse parent folders until the given filename (or root) is found
+			db_path.push(filename); //we want to know about the db file, not the folder itself
+		}
+
+		if (!db_path.exists()) { //fallback to default
+			//TODO: a less "nix-centered" default fallback, possibly configurable
+			//protip: cfg!(windows)/cfg!(unix)/cfg!(target_os = "macos") will give us the info we need
+			db_path = dirs::home_dir().unwrap();
+			db_path.push(".local/share/"); //default fallback path
+		}
 	}
 
+	//TODO: permissions check, this will panic if it finds an existing db it can't write to
+
 	let mut storage = SQLiteStorage::new(db_path.to_str().unwrap(), true).unwrap();
 
 	if args.sync {