Life Nomadic: What Couchsurfing in Haiti is Like {Gadling}

Apr 15th 2009 1:41PM Hahaha! I've been waiting for the day you'd discover CouchSurfing Tynan.

This most recent summer I decided I'd had enough of where I lived and started traveling the US. Considering it was a split second decision where I quit my job at midnight and started driving west, I had almost no money and CouchSurfed out of necessity.

I quickly found out it was so much more than a free place to stay, but a community of amazing people with a love for travel and other people. I have had some pretty crazy experiences CouchSurfing.

Example: I found Betterthanyourboyfriend when I was CouchSurfing in San Jose, CA where I had just totaled my car. It was distressing because my host in San Francisco did not have a car, and so I knew absolutely no one for miles around. I was able to find someone with a phone number listed on CS and they picked me up right away. They let me crash with them for 12 days and even took me to Burning Man while I tried to have my car fix.

When I found out the car was totaled it was the recent discovery of LifeNomadic that convinced me to soldier on. I took the insurance money, bought a backpack, sold almost everything I had with me, and flew to Hawaii where I CSed for 2 weeks before renting a place for about 3 months on Maui.

My first Couch in Hawaii was my only "bad" couch (out of almost 50 so far). And it was still really good, because of the story I got out of it. The short version is that it was a crazy Army Captain who took me to pick up Japanese girls in Waikiki, and then when we went home. Home ended up being his truck parked on the Naval Base Pearl Harbor. I had not been made aware that he lived out of his truck or that I would be sleeping a stone's throw away from Nuclear Subs.

P.S. Couchsurfed in Austin a few weeks ago, ate at Casa De Luz. Thanks for the tip.