I stumbled across the most fascinating article about Couch Surfing on a travel website (Brave New Traveler). Before this moment, I never even considered the possibility that something like this existed! OK, before I lose you, Couch Surfing is basically a form of backpacking, where the traveller stays with a host family instead of in a hostel ("sleeping on someone's couch", so to speak), and then travels that country using voluntary hosts (or "couches") as the main form of accommodation.The reason it captured my attention was when I visited one of the enabler websites, CouchSurfing.com, there were 1172 available couches in South Africa alone. That means, in my country at this very moment, there are 1172 empty, available couches just waiting to be filled with complete strangers. Or, there are 1172 people who are willing to open their homes, give of their time, and spend money and energy on a STRANGER who will basically live off them for 1 or 2 nights and then move on. Wow. Who knew?
It is at this point in time that any normal person might experience some form of physical discomfort. Like nausea or dizziness. Before you fall over, read the article about Couch Surfing, (it might not be as bad as you think) and take a look at some enabler websites (the article mentions CouchSurfing.com and Hospitality Club).
The main thing I got out of this was the word "altruism". I had to look it up :-) And it made my heart sing!
Why? Because when you stand back and look at the human race, it's hard to see past all the destruction and selfishness. But then you start looking closer and you find communities all over the world that care for other people -- care for complete strangers -- without any regard for reward or recognition. It's these moments of clarity that makes me proud to be homo sapien.
