If you're brave, young & crazy...

then Couch Surf!
Ok, not literally "surf on a couch" but I learned about this website from my friend Jenna: www.couchsurfing.com. It's a crazy trend of people creating profiles about themselves and where they live, and then inviting others to sleep on their couch while traveling nearby. I know it sounds crazy...strangers sleeping on your couch? But hundreds of thousands of people all around the world are doing it!
Yes I had the same thoughts as you are thinking right now. What if they are serial killers? What if they are perverted creepers? What if they shoot my husband, hold a knife to my throat, and sell me into sex slavery?


Well despite all my skeptism, we decided to try it out. And now I am proud to say, that we are official, experienced couch surfers! And we loved it. We were lucky that we happened to find such a generous, kind-hearted host. He picked us up from the airport, cooked us breakfast, took us to the beach, let us pick out our dinner at the grocery store, played games with us, took us to a Jazz Festival, dropped us off at our cruise port, and then 7 days later, picked us up early in the morning from our cruise, and then dropped us off at the airport again! Talk about hospitality! And while it was a little strange thinking about the fact that I was sleeping on the couch of someone I didn't know, it actually felt quite natural. Maybe we just got lucky with our host, but he honestly felt like a close family friend.

While we stayed at his house, he was also hosting another young couple from Romania who has been traveling the world for SIX years...all couch surfing! It's like a whole new culture! These couch surfers have "events" that they plan and at the Jazz Festival we went to, we met about 10 other couch surfers in the Ft. Lauderdale area. They ranged from older men, to married couples with children, to students in their twenties, like us. I was shocked. But it was so fun meeting random people, who were so trusting and genuinely interested in you.


I'm not sure when we will try couch surfing next, but if you are brave, young & crazy you just might want to at least check it out. They have a pretty trusted verification process and you can see all the reviews from a variety of people, whether they surfed together, traveled together, are friends, etc. It's definitely worth looking into. We saved about $300 ($120 since we didn't have to pay for a hotel, $80 since we didn't have to buy food, and about $100 since we didn't have to pay for a taxi.) But to me, it's not even about the money. It's about the crazy experience of finding some random person, staying at their house and getting to know them in a way you never would have been able to...plus seeing cool places from the people who live there and know it best.

And if you are ever going to Ft Lauderdale or Pompano Beach, Florida...call me. I know an amazing, welcoming guy who has a couch and/or a spare bedroom for you!