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It doesn’t get more random than my own couchsurfing experiences. You may hook up the initial meeting through conscious action (emailing a few people off the site) but once the connection is made, you’re off and running in ways you’ll never anticipate.

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jitendra

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Here’s an article I just published at the notebook that gets at similar themes.

How To Travel For Free:

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/how-to/how-to-travel-for-free/

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You could erase every guide book that existed, and people would then rely overmuch on, well, guides. The problem isn’t in the excess or lack of information. It’s all in the attitude you take.

I’d like to offer a story told by Phil Cousineau, in his book “The Art of Pilgrimage,” in which an enthusiastic traveler meets with comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell. It sums up the spirit of active (opposed to passive) travel wonderfully:

“A woman in her late thirties or early forties approached Joe [Joseph Campbell] and, speaking very rapidly, with great emotion began to outline her plan for going to Greece to ‘find the spirit of the goddess that you spoke of tonight.’ She pulled out a notebook and showed Joe her itinerary. She had made precise calculations of the best times to visit every major cultural attraction and just where and when she would make her salutations to the various deities whose statues remained. ‘Do you think I’ll find the spirit of the goddess?’

“Joe had been staring at her while a parade of mixed emotions played over his features. Now he took her one free hand in his and with great kindness and solemnity said, ‘Dear lady, I sincerely hope that all does not go as planned.’

“With that, he slipped on his overcoat and we left the building. Sitting in the backseat of the car on the drive home, I could barely contain my curiosity. Finally, mustering all the courage of my seventeen years, I leaned over the front seat and said, ‘Mr. Campbell, that woman who was going to Greece – why did you tell her that you hoped things did not go as planned?’ Joe paused as if trying to sort through all the encounters of the evening, and then threw back his head and laughed with a mystic’s glee.

“’How will the gods ever find her when she has done everything in her power to make sure that they never will?!’ he exclaimed. Then, very soberly: ‘Unless you leave room for serendipity, how can the divine enter in? The beginning of the adventure of finding yourself is to lose your way!’”

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It was fun to discover places by deciding to take a particular street because it looked interesting, not because every travel book in the published world tells you it is a not to miss site/restaurant/hotel/museum. I am a librarian by training so I must confess that I did miss my guides…although less than I thought I would.

Travel guides are fun but should be a jumping off point. I hope to produce guides that are very personal and encourage my clients to explore the people and culture of the places they travel.

We knew we enjoyed Amsterdam on a past (brief) visit but after spending two weeks wandering around we are totally in love. It was fun to discover places just by deciding to take a particular street because it looks interesting

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