CouchCrash: And we go to Minneapolis

Where does the time go?

Last month was a blur of hosting, traveling and a chaotic first week of my final college semester.  Now, I need to catch up.

After hosting Jake and Jon and learning that Jake was from Minneapolis, my roommate and I decided we had to participate in the CouchCrash.  It is essentially an event where hosts plan a weekend of get-togethers and activities, then openly invite the Couchsurfing community to join in.  It is a time for meeting new people, for locals to display pride of their city, and an excuse for travelers to take a weekend getaway.

So, we headed out on a road trip to Minnesota, but not before taking some obligatory road trip pictures with a truck stop dinosaur:

We got to town late, but - in true Couchsurfing style - our hosts graciously invited us into their home.  We awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee and eggs that came from chickens in the backyard.  Chickens that live next to the hops growing on the side of the house.  As if that wasn't awesome enough, Alesa also invited us along to the yoga class she taught and took us out to for a vegan lunch at a place that resembled a tree house or fort more than a restaurant.  Best. Hosts. Ever.

We then met up with Jake, our surfer from the week before, and about 15 other Couchsurfers at an Irish Festival.  Now, I always have a great time dancing to Irish music, but the fact that I was sitting in a strange city, after an even more strange awesome day, with people from around the nation that I had just met, made it better.

The next day, we picnicked at the bottom of some waterfalls, napped in the sun and took a nature run down to the Mississippi River.  It beautiful and peaceful, and that's just what I needed.  You can't leave an experience like this in a bad mood:

  

 

Some of my friends hear my stories about traveling (or just my general life for that matter) or read my blog, and think I'm crazy.  That the idea of having a stranger sleeping on your couch almost every weekend and knowing that you never have to get a hotel room when you travel is bizarre.  Or that simply getting lost and exploring on your own is dangerous.  

 



 

But I think it's crazy that these things don't happen more.  When's the last time you actually knew where your food came from? When's the last time you took a walk in a secluded forest and just listened to nature?  Even harder, when's the last time you had to rely on the generosity of strangers for a roof over your head and some food?

 

 

I think it's experiences like these that add some much-needed perspective to our lives.  I had a great, relaxing, joyful weekend.  And I had none of the things that I seem to think I need on a daily basis - like my bed, Mac, car, heels or excessive amounts of makeup.  Now that's a nice getaway.

 

CouchCrash: Meeting Each Other Again

It's 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday; I'm doing wall sits next to a stranger, trying to push them over while two friends are yelling at us, cheering/laughing their respective teammate on to victory.

Welcome to Couchsurfing.

It's the most expected unexpectedness you will ever find and, just when I think I'll run out of new content, someone sends a request and we take off on our own unique journey together.

That's Jake and Jon.  All the usual came to pass - it instantly felt like we'd known each other for months, they were up for anything, drinks were had, stories shared, memories made...

But Jake said something that got me thinking throughout the night: "...It doesn't matter.  I can say what I want and do what I want, because we're probably never going to see each other again."

And that made me sad - it was actually something that had  been weighing on me lately - the idea that we are all just in each others' lives for a fleeting moment and, once that moment has passed, we will only ever see each other again smiling back at us through Facebook pictures.

Sometimes, that's exactly how it's meant to be.

But, other times, I refuse to accept that.  I realize that we have become more interwoven than we originally thought.

For example, a CSer gives you a book that you pass on to another, a CSer introduces you to someone/somewhere new in your own town or, your CSers run into each other without even knowing that they have you, their host, in common.

That actually happened.  Jake and Jon told me that, as they were driving East (5 hours from me), two bikers with American flags on their backpacks were riding West.  As it turns out, those bikers were Xavier and Julian from earlier that week, and Jake and Jon were my guests coming to me that night.  Two Belgium band players, a Canadian and a Minnesotan that seemingly couldn't be further apart - isn't that crazy.

It's weird to think that you may be much more connected to that stranger on the bus (or anywhere) than you think. 

I have introduced you to meeting strangers and how you make just find out how much you have in common.  But now, I'm going to travel and purposely not meet a stranger, but meet up with a new friend in a new city.

It's a romaniticized idea - perhaps - that we were all meant to run into each other again, possibly around the world, years from now, but it's an idea I'll hold on to for now.

I actually found out that Jake and Jon are going to the same town I'm traveling to next weekend for a Couchsurfer event.  I have shown them around my town, now they get to show me around theirs.

I'm joining the Minneapolis CouchCrash.....