Websites you need for planning your trip

Besides CouchSurfing, there are so many other resources you can use. I will talk about some useful website when you are travelling in a budget in this post.

Hitchwiki

Hitchwiki is a collaborative website for gathering information about hitchhiking and other ways of extremely cheap ways of transport. It is maintained by many active hitchhikers all around the world. You can get information about how to hitch out of big cities, how to cover long distances, maps and many more tips.

Semester at Sea

Semester at Sea is a multiple country study abroad program open to students of all majors emphasizing comparative academic examination, hands-on field experiences, and meaningful engagement in the global community. Students from 250-300 colleges in the United States and the world participate on Semester at Sea each term. Credit earned is transferable to a student’s home institution.

WWOOF

WWOOF is a worldwide network of organization. They link volunteers with organic farmers, and help people share more sustainable ways of living. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.

Helpx

HelpX is an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation. In the typical arrangement, the helper works an average of 4 hours per day and receives free accommodation and meals for their efforts.

Volunteer Vocations

A list of organizations that take volunteers：

NEIO- Nepal Education Initiative Organization

IHF- International Humanity Foundation (Indonesia, Kenya and Thailand)

PISCO SIN FRONTERAS (Peru)

Otra Cosa (Peru)

Aec Tea (Brazil)

Sikanda- Solidaridad Internacional Kanda A.C. (Mexico)



I will talk about my own help exchange experience next week.

CouchSurfing - What? How? Why? When? Where? PART 4

Now I will talk about the best host I’ve ever met and she is also a really good friend of mine now.

I applied for a 4-day couch in Sydney. At first I applied to her mom, while she said she is travelling in other country at that time but her daughter can open the door for me. So luckily, I met Miriam. She is a Jazz singer and I went to a bar where she was singing to meet her at first. She is a lovely girl and a good singer. I also got the amazing chance to live in a sea-view house (with a queen-size bed) alone.

The beautiful view I got at her house. This is the Sydney Harbour side.

After I told her that I kept getting lost in Sydney, she spent a whole day to show me around. You know when you have companies who have grown up in that city, it will be so different to travel with them since they know all the fun places. We are the same age and share a lot of common interests, so it’s easier to connect with her and we became good friends. I also spent two nights in the bar to listen to her songs and I indeed had a good time.

The beautiful view I got at her house. This is the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House side. Don't you think just this amazing view will be enough for enjoying Sydney. And don't forget you don't need to pay for it. 
CouchSurfing is not about SUFFERING!

Before I left, she drove me to the train station and told me I will always be welcome to her place no matter how long I need to stay. Sydney became my favorite Australian city because of her. I came back to Sydney about half month later and spent another three days at her place because she made me feel really welcome.

But that is not the whole story- Miriam came to Beijing in 2012. We had dinner at my apartment and we even traveled together to south China for ten days. I am sure I will meet her again in the future. When I talked with her on Skype last time, I invited her to Niagara Falls and she invited me to her place in New York since she will record an album in New York in 2013.

So this is my story about CouchSurfing, and I will post about HelpExchange (volunteer vacation) 

Check out this vedio from BBC- CouchSurfing Report.

CouchSurfing - What? How? Why? When? Where? PART 3

In this post, I will talk about my own Couchsurfing experiences.

I went to Australia as a backpacker in 2011 and I spent around 800 dollars for a one-month trip. I met three Couchsurfing hosts during that time.

So my first host is a nice young lady who lives in Melbourne. She picked me up at the train station and brought me to her place. Since it’s my first day in Australia, I just dropped my stuff and then went to the city directly. Unfortunately she had to work during the whole night every day. So I barely have the chance to talk with her. So my suggestion is if you really want to talk with people, try to apply for these ones who can match your time. A funny fact is her cat was snoring everyday next to me on another couch!

The couch I slept in Melbourne

Downtown Melbourne

The Twelve Apostles at The Great Ocean Road (near Melbourne)

My second host is a single mom who lives in Gold Coast. She was really interested in Chinese culture and her mom was an English teacher in China 30 years ago. I remembered that she told me that she has hosted Couchsurfer from Iran and China, and she just need one more from North Korea to collect all the “evil countries”. While she said the both the Iran girl and me have changed her mind about those countries. But here is another important thing I have to say is even though we went well with each other- she cooked nice meals for me for free and we talked a lot every day, you have to make sure you followed your schedule or at least communicate about it. She kicked me out of her house at the 4th day, because I made a mistake when applying for the couch- I applied for 4 days while I actually need 5 days. She just told me I have to leave, so I ended up in a hostel that day and that is out of my budget. So be aware of the date, you may meet some strict-scheduled hosts.

I will talk about my third host which is the best I’ve ever met in my next post.

CouchSurfing - What? How? Why? When? Where? PART 2

As for Couchsurfing as a guest, here are some suggestions:

Before

· Prepare early. Even though some hosts consider last minute application, you don’t really want to take that risk.

· Before you start to apply for a couch, complete your account profile as detailed as you can so that hosts can get to know you better before they decide whether to host you or not.

· Read hosts’ profile carefully and choose the one who share the same hobbies with you. You will feel much easier to talk with them and have more fun hanging out with them.

· Read former guests’ comments to find out if they are nice to guests.

· Choose location carefully. If you don’t have access to a car and the local public transportation is not convenient for you, don’t live in suburbs.

· Write a sweet application email to host and explain why you want to Couchsurfing at their place.

· Don’t worry about the “No” answer, keep trying and you will find your perfect host. From my own experiences, I often get about three “No” followed by one “Yes”. So that is good enough for me and I will talk about my own Couchsurfing experience in my following posts.

During

· Be polite and show your respect to your host. Don’t mess up with their houses by using their kitchen, drink their milk in the fridge without their permission and don’t forget clean your own mess. Those examples are all from a lady host who has hosted a lot of people and she got so mad at those bad guests.

· Be open-minded. Respect different cultures. Remember it’s all about culture-sharing.

After
· I often prepare some sweet and small gifts for my hosts as goodbye gifts. But it’s up to you though.
· Keep in touch with your hosts and you may become really good friends.

---PART 3 will be posted next week!

CouchSurfing - What? How? Why? When? Where? PART 1

So in this post, I will talk about Couchsurfing. I had so many amazing experiences from Couchsurfing, and I HIGHLY recommend it to you.

Couchsurfing is a web community of over 5 million members in 97,000 cities. Their mission is to create inspiring experiences. Just like you can get from the word COUCH and SURFING, you are actually surfing on other people’s couch when you are traveling. But it doesn’t limited to couches; you may also have your own bed or your own room. And it’s all free.

How does it work? Why is it free? You need to register an account on their website and then you will have the access to host other people or apply for couches. Personally, I treat Couchsurfing as a good way to connect with different people from different cultures rather than just a cheap way to save your hotel money. As a host, you can contribute to it by choosing your couch status- Yes/Maybe/Not right now, but I can hang out. So it means even if you are not travelling, you can meet new people by hosting them. And believe me, everyone has amazing stories to share with you.

For suggestions to guests, I will post it in Part 2.