Flightster

A City of Strangers Becomes a City of Friends

• by Srinivas Rao
• on November 8th, 2010
• 8 Comments

Editors Note: This is a guest post by Mark Lawrence at Lifestlye Ignition. Mark is 24 year old inquisitive individual on a quest of adventure and life fulfillment. His shameless marketing and awesome schemes for endless travel make him exactly the kind of Flightster we love.

In the dead of winter, I flew from Chicago to California for work.  The weather was going to be warm and sunny, and it was.  While nice weather is a plus, traveling for work can get downright lonely.  You travel to a new city where you don’t know anybody and spend your time in an empty hotel room or stale office.  Before leaving for Irvine, California it was a city of strangers.  It became a city of friends.  How does a city of strangers become a city of friends so quickly?  Couchsurfing.

Couchsurfing is an online international community and hospitality network.  I had been a couchsurfer for years and have hosted hundreds of people from all over the world at my place in Chicago.  There are also group message boards in different cities where you can see what the local couchsurfing community is up to.  Some groups are more active than others, but this is a great place to see what events or meetups are going on in a particular place.  The Orange County group is active.  With 1067 members and 3595 posts (as of the writing of this) the pool is particularly deep.  Before leaving on my business trip, I perused the group postings and saw there was a weekly Taco Tuesday event.  I love Tacos, and posted something along the lines of, “I’m getting hungry already thinking of this event.  See you all there!”

Later that day I received a text.  “Mark, are you coming to Orange County?  I live there now!”  It was from someone I had hosted through Couchsurfing in Chicago.  She was from Switzerland.  She had moved to Orange County California and I had no idea!  It had been months since we talked.  Talk about a small world.  I had a friend in Orange County I didn’t even know about.  Thank you couchsurfing.

So now it was Tuesday.  Though, it wasn’t just another Tuesday at the office!  I was in Orange County!  The sun was out, the weather was nice, and it was Taco Tuesday!  I arrived not knowing what to expect.  Remember, this was still a city of strangers.  It wasn’t hard to find the group I was looking for.  There was a large group of people gathering and I recognized some faces from the OC Couchsurfing group.  I sat down and started chatting.  There were people there from all over the world.  There were travelers from all over the world; Italy, Australia, Trinidad, & Israel and many others.  There was a Canadian motocross racer who has just recently moved to the area.  There was an Au Pair from Germany, the Swiss couchsurfer I had hosted back in Chicago, myself on a business trip, and many California natives who wanted to welcome people to the area.  Not only were the tacos amazing, but the people were welcoming, the conversations interesting and I had a great time.

It didn’t stop there.  I’m an avid Salsa dancer and was invited out the next night to go Salsa dancing.  It was an incredible night of dancing and a lot of fun.  Without the help of an awesome local I met at the Taco Tuesday CS meetup, I would never have found, or even heard of the place.  Before leaving, Irvine, CA was a city of strangers.  When I left it was a city of friends.   I have said this before and I will say it again.  Couchsurfing is the greatest thing in the world.  Thank you Couchsurfing, and all the wonderful souls that make up its existence.

Sporting over 2.2 million members in 237 countries and territories, Couchsurfing is a community of welcoming individuals that offer a local’s view of their city and country.   Whether you are traveling for business or fun you can be a part of this wonderful community.  Whether you need a place to stay, would just like to meet for coffee, or take part in a group meetup or event, Couchsurfing is there!

***Note I was lucky that the folks at my office in Orange County were awesome, cool, and refreshing people.  Not only were they welcoming, but they were interesting and fun!  I even got to go surfing (waves, not couches) with someone from work, and even though I am no longer working there, I still keep in touch from time to time.

Srinivas Rao

Srinivas is an avid surfer and personal development blogger at The Skool of Life. He's also the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.