CouchSurfing

If you've been following this blog at all, you probably know about how I met the young man from Rhode Island on my way into Yarmouth Nova Scotia. If not, you can refer back to the July 17th and July 18th posts to get caught up.

Throughout this journey I have been using the Internet, the online journal that you're reading now, along with email, route mapping, online banking, and for keeping up to date with the news of the world. Whatever your own personal Internet experience, you must admit that this is an incredible tool. One very useful service on the Internet that I did not make use of, though I wish I had, is CouchSurfing. The CouchSurfing Project is a charitable organization founded in New Hampshire, the motto included in their mission statement sums it up: "CouchSurfing Participates in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a Time". Here's the rest...

CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding. As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to create a better world, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!

As a result of CouchSurfing I have met and become friends with many wonderful and interesting people.

Matt is an aspiring photojournalist from Rhode Island who just completed his third year at RIT. He's the one that introduced me to Yarmouth.

Carla is a beautiful and delightful Maritime woman who is also an accomplished newspaper reporter and photographer here in Southwest Nova Scotia,

Phil is a very sweet and insightful German traveller on a quest similar to mine, only his is taking place before embarking on building an adult life and family, Brenda is a wonderful American ex-patriot whose take on Canadian life has been a regular subject of conversation over a glass of wine There's Sheila, and Joe, and Chas, and J, and Darryl, and of course there's Jacques who is winding down his own bicycle journey. He's only got another 2500km or so to go, when he arrives home in Quebec he will have ridden over 12,000 kilometers, that's over 7,000 miles!!! Jacques is 63, a former mayor of his home town and a very wise and charming man.

If not for CouchSurfing, some good luck, a little misfortune in Amherst, and lot of other very odd "coincidences", I would not have met any of these wonderful people. I strongly encourage you to sign up to host a couch surfers in your home, it's the very best way to get to know people from other places and experiences. I have learned so much by just sitting and talking, and listening. You don't have to go Nova Scotia to experience the world, it can happen in your own home! If you're travelling, couch surfing is a great way to meet people along the way and to truly get a feel for an area, it's people and it's culture.

Santé,

~B