Want to travel, but have no money?
I guess the ways to spend money vary. In my case, I have been spending money for traveling since more than 10 years ago.
What always bothers me is money for the place to stay.
While it’s good to stay in a luxury hotel, once you close your eyes, I don’t think there is a big difference. Having lived in New York, supposedly the most expensive city to live in the world, for 6 years, I came to conclude saving money for the place to sleep is crucial.
On this blog, I will talk about one technique to save that money when traveling.
Last week, I went to attend an annual conference on Educational Development called “CIES “(Comparative & International Educational Society).
The venue was a place I had long wanted to go,
a home place of Luis Armstrong, a father of Jazz
New Orleans !!
The conference took place in a Hilton hotel, where you have to pay US$180 per night. For their convenience, people who attended this event stayed there by paying US$1260 for the entire week, which I think is a big money.
Today, I would like to introduce “CouchSurfing”
This system started since 2004. To summarize, you ask to stay for free to someone who lives where you want to travel.
What I did this time was as follows:
１．Type “New Orleans” on the website
２．Look for someone available for hosting, and send a request mail with my scheduke
３．You get response from the host.
４．You go there and stay
Of course there are pros and Cons.
（２）You get to meet local people
（３）You get to meet other travelers [Cons] （１）You’ve never met the person
（２）It’s risky because you might lose the opportunity due to the host’s schedule
（３）Lack of private space
You can mitigate Cons (１) because of the CouchSurfing’s system which allows us to see previous history of hosts/ guests.
For example,
In a case of host, “OO was a great host and the house was so comfortable to stay.”
In a case of guest, “”△△ was a great guest because he kept our house clean.”
You get to see some strange people from the profile. That is, it is important to evaluate the profile of hosts/guests. You also get to see someone who might get along with you.
Although there are pros and cons, I think it’s a great system for backpackers.
I tried this for the first time and I am so satisfied because I could save more than $1000 and get to know local people.
When I asked the guy why he hosted people, he said
” When I was traveling, I was hosted by many people and I would like to do the same as a return.”
I hope this system will make Win-Win environment for the travelers all over the world.
Want to travel, but have no money?
In that case, how about CouchSurfing? (the ling is here）
Next time, I will talk about Hurricane Catrina in relation to the food and politics.
Pingback: 5 Reasons to Host in Couchsurfing | MD NO SUSUME