I'd like to give a homework example for everyone to try this in your own town. You don't have to go far away to get a sense of what it feels like. I highly recommend you take a week to do this. It will refresh all the things in your life that you enjoy and help them feel special again.
If you work you can just modify your schedule to do this while your working (i.e. take the bus/train or bicycle/walk to work and then do this with all the rest of the day/night).
Traveling Constantly
I'm not sure we have properly described how much different our travels really are from most peoples "vacations". Think of this;
every 2.5 days you pack up everything you own into as small and lightweight as you can fit on your back. you venture off to the train or bus station to figure out what bus/train to take to your next destination. You travel for anywhere from 1 to 4 hours to arrive at your new town. you get of the train/bus and get a gps lock to find your way to your new home. You meet a brand new person/family and introduce your self. We have brought many things to our couch surfer hosts, wine, chocolates, alcohol. you get situated with them, put your things down, get situated in your bed/couch and talk about the schedule ( dinner, plans to go out, what they want, what we want, how tired they/we are). hopefully decide on some sort of schedule for the night, maybe domain (tomorrow).
Homework for those who want to try this at home:
-You can do this alone, or with a teammate.
-Pack a backpack (no suitcases! they are too heavy) with a weeks worth of clothes, and comforts (only what you can carry as you won't have a car).
-Make some plans with friends for staying there for 2 nights (it's better to ask friends your NOT used to staying at their house, the less you know them the better), alternatively you make a profile on couchsurfing.org and ask real hosts on CS.
Note: You will need 3 different sets of people to stay with. Do the planning via email,phone,txt for setting up your week of travel for each place.
-No car! Do your travel with bus/train/ or calling friends to come get you.
-Make sure to carry your stuff for at least 1-2 hours each day you travel(every 3 days). just go on a walk if they are going to come pick you up.
-If you speak any other languages your REQUIRED to first speak in them to your host, then translate to english if they don't understand. This is HUGE. even if you suck at your 2nd language you need to speak it 100% of the time.
-Then set off!
Some things to remember!
-Be respectful at all times
-Bring something for your hosts (this requires you go out and find a store by foot or locate one before you arrive. no bringing anything from your house!)
-Your not allowed to help cook or clean that is your hosts responsibility, but ask anyway so they can say no
-Your not allowed to cook by yourself while staying with them, if you go out by yourself or your teammate you can buy food, but you must carry it in a day-pack Set your goal of spending to something reasonable (i.e don't go out each meal and spend $20). I'd say you should be able to get away with no more than $12-15 a day average in food.
-try and make some plans with your host, and some plans by yourself/teammates so you have a spread of time spent with them and spent apart. this works well if you work during the day for example.
-Your not allowed to visit any other friends you know while your on your journey, you can meet strangers and ask them out for dinner and activities, but nobody you know except your host (if you know them)
buoni viaggi ( good travels )
No comments:
Post a Comment