I was sitting in the sauna yesterday in Jackson, Wyoming talking with someone from Russia. He has lived in the US for the last 10 years and now owns a small shop detailing cars and doing oil changes. He was telling me about some of the experiences that he has had traveling across the world.
He signed up for Couchsurfing.org when he wanted to stay with some stranger on a trip to Kiev, Ukraine. Couchsurfing.org is an organization of people who are willing to allow you to sleep on their couch or in a spare bedroom. It gives you a free place to stay for your journey, and then builds credibility for a time when they would like to stay with you.
It was tough for him in the beginning when he began hosting. He lives in Jackson, WY, which is a huge tourism hub. He had tons of calls and emails of people who wanted to stay at his place. It is rather modest, and he has since downsized to where he doesn’t have options of hosting anymore. When joining you can choose if you would like to host or not.
I’ve dreamed of an idea like this for years, but had never stumbled upon it until yesterday. I’m really excited to see how it works and sign up myself. I’m not sure my wife would allow a complete stranger to stay with us, but we might see who looks us up first.
I wish that I would have known about this when we went to Banff earlier this summer. We could have saved big bucks sleeping on someone’s floor as I ended up sleeping on the floor of the hotel room and paying the same as other people who were sleeping on soft beds. What a bummer for me.
Wanderlust with us.
This is my first time in your web and I am impressed with the beauty of your pictures.