Sunday, January 2, 2011

Big Cities on the cheap! Couch Surfing, Travel & Education

Broadway show billboards at the corner of 7th ...Image via Wikipedia
Every time I go out onto the Internet that I get a little more education!  Sometimes my brain just needs to explode and release the pressure.  FOR EXAMPLE today I saw an article in the New York Time's travel section called MY $100 WEEKEND IN NEW YORK:  WHERE THE MONEY WENT.  Is that possible?  Well according to the Frugal Traveler it is. He knows all about travel on the cheap!


Where have I been? If I had not been a follower of The Frugal Traveler on twitter I would never have even heard about this.   It seems the Frugal Traveler wanted to prove that he could stay in New York City for one weekend and do it on only $100.  He was going for the "lowest possible budget."  I don't know how he saw it but all I think was "This has to be about bragging rights!"  Of course he did all the free museum stuff, ate donuts with coffee and walked or used public transportation...that all goes without saying.  I thought "big deal".  Then  my eyes stopped on the words COUCH SURFING.   I was sure he wasn't talking about the TV clicker and shopping on HSN.  So I went to the Couch Surfing website that he suggested.  Oh my goodness.

Did you know that there is a network of  people from around the world that trade a nights stay with other people, conceivably on a couch or even on the floor, so they can travel without spending anything hotels room? CS is a way of sleeping indoors and in the safety of someone's home and doing it for free.  COUCH SURFING has all the details, safety tips, registration and information about the people that use this service.  Really, I need a bed, a very good bed preferably, but for the adventurous durable traveler this is a very cool.

CS touts the value of connecting with the local people in places you have never been.  I understand how important making contact with other humans is to my travel experience.  I love to travel but I am not your typical tourist.  For me the whole vacation is all about local flavor and what I can learn from the people I meet.  I see every trip as an education with food and sleeping thrown in.   Like a bed and breakfast or even Hostels, CS could be a totally different kind of travel.  Take a look at the website...I think you will be intrigued with the idea too.

I do want to add a disclaimer here...I do not know if this is totally safe for women or single travelers...I want you to make that judgement for yourself.  Please note the articles below.


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3 comments:

  1. A friend told me about CouchSurfing a couple of years ago. She used it to travel all over Europe for a couple of months, spending zero on lodging. She says it is totally safe, at least in her experiences.

    When my son and I went to Australia last year, we considered CouchSurfing and even signed up on the site but in the end, we were doing too many things in too many areas for it to work for us on short notice. But there is the potential to use it and save big bucks as well as make friends in other areas and have great travel experiences.

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  2. I really need to get out more...I had never heard of this. Thank you for your input.

    b

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  3. I had a friend who tried the last site you linked to - Tripping.com and she loved it. I also worried about the safety. But they have a good safety section and video interviews (as the article you linked to mentioned), so I am going to try it this coming spring. They have a special section for AARP members which I am going to try. For any other AARPers here is the link: https://www.tripping.com/network/AARP/info

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Leave your thoughts...I am interested.

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