The Game Changer: Part 1

What is Couchsurfing?

I honestly have no idea how I first stumbled upon the Couchsurfing website, but I've never had anything else change my life so profoundly.  After reading their values and the vision that they have for the world, travel and "friends you haven't met yet (Couchsurfers)," I knew: I found my people.

What a beautiful idea it is to share your "life, experiences,  journey, home, extra almonds or a majestic sunset. To believe that the spirit of generosity, when applied liberally, has the power to profoundly change the world."

And that's how it works: travelers, hosts or just curious bystanders (as I once was) create a profile with basic information, about themselves, their outlook on life, experience with CS and even information about their couch.  You are then a member a 7 million person community full of other seekers in the world. 

Travelers can search for a place to stay based on location, dates, and host information (age, roommates, number of spaces available, etc.).  They then send a couch request to a specific host, or make an open post that they are looking for a place. 

Hosts can also reach out to travelers in a last-minute host group or by responding to an open request.

A request can be anything from a meet-up for coffee and good conversation to recommendations for local must-sees, or a stay of several days where you open up your home to a traveler.

Then there are meet-ups and events.  Events held in over 100,000 cities around the world of couchsurfers who just want to get together with their family of travelers.

That's where I started to test the waters.  Any time I traveled to a place, I looked for local events.  One day, my friend and I decided to amp up our St. Patrick's Day experience.....

The How-To: Meeting Other Travelers

Do:

- Be friendly.  Smiling at strangers can be scary sometimes, but introducing yourself to person next to you on the train/plane can turn a 4 hour nap into something decidedly more exciting.  Like this:

Everyone is free game here.  I met a bartender from Omaha, Ne. (my town) in Prague, gotten a free place to stay from the couple that sat across from me on a train and made a NYC business connection while on a tour in Berlin.

- Opt for Couchsurfing or hostels over hotels.  You're not going to meet someone if you never go around people you don't know.  Apply rule #1 here and you will go far.

- Have travel companions.  When you are traveling, (even if it's just down the road to a new restaurant), people may ask if you want company.  Accept.  Even if you don't know them that well, they will bring a fresh perspective and network of people to your experience.

- Be spontaneous.  Don't get too caught up on your agenda.  While it is good to have some sort of a plan, you meet the best people when you're least expecting.  Many times, this is when you're lost (physically or emotionally).

 Had I not taken the "next ferry to anywhere," I wouldn't have found this pelican in Mykonos and learned that the local business owners let pelicans walk into their restaurants.

- Sit at the bar/communal table/in the park near others.  Especially when you are alone.  No one will approach you when you sit in the corner table by yourself.  Sit next to another person who is alone and you already have a friend.  Tip: compliments & trivia facts make great conversation starters.

- Help others.  If someone else is having trouble with a language, map or their new metro card, help them out.  You may hear their story or get an opportunity to share yours. 



Don't:

- Focus on your differences.  The idea of meeting new people is to meet new people.  Even when you think your differences are too big to overcome.

- Talk too much.  You'll never learn anything if you don't learn how to listen first.

- Assume every one speaks English.  Even though most people do, it's rude to assume so.  Show some initiative and look up "hello" or "please" in a couple languages.  Your host or guest will appreciate it.  You will probably mess up at some point - laugh about it with your new friends (assuming you didn't accidentally offend them).

- Be afraid to go alone.  I know this is contradictory to what I said above, but what if no one wants to join you on a trip to a remote town in Alaska?  If you've always wanted to go, you should!

- Forget to take pictures. But remember to put down the lens & enjoy the moment, too.

The Idea Behind This Blog

Living the World was not conceptualized from just one idea.

Rather, it was a culmination of days, people, language barriers, misread maps (lost ones, too) and evenings spent amongst strangers drinking too much cheap wine on the floor of my 2-room apartment.  Everyone has seen and re-posted the travel memes, rotating exotic locations they want to see through their Pinterest boards and mental bucket lists.  And most people won't ever experience those places.

Which is sad - because the world is a beautiful, vast place.  And I'd encourage you to see it.

But for me, what changed me the most, wasn't the places (or the journey, as the saying goes), but the people and the moments.  And while my travels have taken me around the world, very often those things have found me right at home.

So here is my commentary on travelers, or as I have come to know them, Seekers. 

You have to have an open mind.  You have to invite strangers into your life, rely on others to inspire you, and rely on humanity to not murder you in your sleep because you invited a homeless traveler to sleep on your couch (which, by the way is called couchsurfing, and is awesome). 

I will also talk about traveling, because sometimes the person that changes your life or inspires a wonderful moment is you.

So while the content for this blog has been accumulating in my memories for several years now, it took one truly inspiring traveler to spark the idea of writing it down.  Not everything I say is necessarily my story to tell, but I hope to inspire you by sharing the small piece of their story that I played a part in. 

I also changed the names of my fellow seekers because it's not about names to begin with.