couch surfing

One of the little diamonds I have discovered since living in Asia has been the Couch Surfing project, introduced to me by wonderful former roommate, Bethany Bauman.

The idea is simple. Everyone sets up a profile, similar to facebook or myspace, and list where they are located, along with the level they are available to help travelers and other couchsurfers (host, meet for coffee, answer email questions). If someone comes to Hanoi, for example, they might choose to stay in a backpacker hostel but would really like to meet someone who lives in the city and can tell them where to go and what to do. You meet with them over coffee, get them orientated, share a good conversation, and they go back and review you on your profile page- very helpful, knowledgeable about the city, etc...or they can warn people not to hang out with you cause you're a scumbag. The more positive reviews from travelers you get, the more likely people will trust you and be willing to meet with you when you go traveling somewhere and want to do the same.

From being listed as an English & Spanish-speaking westerner, I've had the opportunity to meet with SO many people and get to know WHY people travel and hear their amazing stories. Even better, when I am stuck doing my University of Hawaii classes down in Ho Chi Minh City and don't really know anyone, I can call on couchsurfing to hook me up with a good coffee partner.

Noel met me last time I was down here and was amazing enough to not only meet me for lunch at Ben Thanh Market for some traditional Southern Vietnamese cuisine but afterward proceeded to spend the whole afternoon showing me the sights of Saigon (I never knew the Presidential Palace purposefully built the staircase in the middle of the building to avoid bombing directly on the offices, since most bombs are dropped in the middle of the target). Surprisingly, Couch Surfers who are this kind are very common and she has done the project proud by representing it so well. To try and reciprocate her kindness, this time around I bought her coffee at Gloria Jeans, but something tells me that the score is still a little uneven.