Tag: life

Couchsurfing? Of Course!
Inspiration & Wisdom, Travel

Couchsurfing? Of Course!


I want to write about Couchsurfing.org today.

Shortlink… http://wp.me/pfF9G-1mZ

If you are unfamiliar with Couchsurfing, or CS for short, it is an on-line community for “travelers” whom find more enjoyment in meeting people and exchanging their culture with each other as they travel or while they are at home.  There are two main aspects of CS; 1) a Surfer, and 2) a Host.

Basic needs of shelter met, freedom to have fun with fellow CSers was had.
Basic needs of shelter met, freedom to have fun with fellow CSers was had even though we use Foursquare to keep in touch daily. (That’s me!)

A Surfer, like me right now, is a person or several people traveling with each other, who in exchange for a safe place to sleep free of charge, offer their perspectives on their native culture; their experiences in traveling; the activities they enjoy, such as cooking or playing a musical instrument; funny stories of their lives; their knowledge of a different language, etcetera; or any combination of the above.  In other words, a Surfer offers of themselves something that cannot be measured in terms of money or a hard value, in exchange for a place to sleep, a bed, a floor, a safe and secure sleeping location, or as the name implies a couch.

CS Reunion in Turkiye
We met via CS, but we’re in contact across the miles through Foursquare. Our reunion – Cagdas, Nadide [RadFoursquareNinja] & myself in Turkiye, 1.5 years later. 🙂
The other side of the CS Community equation is a Host.  The Host or Hosts are people, often travelers themselves, who when they are at home, desire to offer an extra bedroom, a safe living/sleeping arrangement, or a couch, to a Surfer, in exchange for the opportunity to learn of another place, another person, one of a million different cultures that exist on the planet we share.  A couch, like a Surfer’s experience, knowledge, language or cultural understanding is offered free of charge.

Continue reading “Couchsurfing? Of Course!”

Hitting the Travel Wall
Travel

Hitting the Travel Wall


Hey all, just a “little” update for those wanting to know about my three months of travel around Europe.

I just spent the better part of 6 days in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and now the past five days in Sophia at a family’s home… Mostly just enjoying conversation with interesting people I met at the The Crib Hostel or with the friends and family of a woman I met at the famous “beach beer garden” discovered in Bonn, Germany. I have increasingly shied away from meeting ‘travelers on missions to check off another city or country’, as the stories are mostly the same, just with different twists and turns along the way.  Stories I have fortunately lived in abundance over all the years of being addicted to travel.

Continue reading “Hitting the Travel Wall”

Travel

Ramblings of The Conflicted Traveler


There’s no doubt I’ve been fortunate to travel more than most people my age; it’s been in my blood since I was little, filling my summers with camping around the Northeast US and winters racing sled dogs throughout New York, New England, the northern Midwest and Canada as well.

College was no different with more days spent in the Adirondacks than in class. This first manifest itself on an orientation trip with the Clarkson University Outings Club into the High Peaks region. I remember purposely selecting the hardest route available, slightly humorous seeing I had never overnight backpacked a day in my life. But “Hey, why not?!” Continue reading “Ramblings of The Conflicted Traveler”