ways to move

The many ways to move around the world are constantly evolving and changing. The communication mass, the heinous world of invisible broadcast and wavelengths, or in the words of Seneter Ted Stevens-a series of tubes that you can´t just dump stuff into, anyway you break it down, the world is getting smaller because it is expanding. Moving through different time zones, climates, altitudes and types of beans, you might have noticed the many options available to cozy up at the end of the night in your temporary residence. There are hostels, hotels, posadas, casa y camas, cheap places, expensive places, am I forgetting any? Each one offers a different type of experience to differing needs at variable prices. And with each one, you tend to know what you will get, or go there on purpose looking for something, and you can find just about anything; Argentina has Telos if you are really the adventurous type.

Allow me to propose one more option to your notes: couchsurfing. Couchsurfing surely needs no introduction as a concept, and has existed much longer than the digital boom has granted it a certain proliferation. It is indeed proliferated in the Internet era by virtue of Hospitality Club, and couchsurfing.com . I am a member of both but have only used couchsurfing.com and as a basic concept the online forum is much the same as your myspace or facebook or Brazilian counterpart. With one exceptional difference, you befriend people and come face to face with them in person, on foreign beds, or your bed (or couch, or floor) in near every nook and cranny the world has to offer. With nearly 530,000 couches available,

¨CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!¨ (www.couchsurfing.com)

Lets just say, in Buenos Aires there are approximately 3,000 members alone and the community stages a wide array of activities, parties, fun and educational events, and a plethora of personal experiences of travel spectacular. Check out the site, ask people for their experiences. I have couchsurfed in about 10 different countries spanning Kosovo to Brazil, and many horizontally and vertically in between, including hosting many people at my past homes in the U.S. If it is still at all unclear what the site does, it provides an alternative way to travel through a place by staying with or meeting people you find on the site or offering your accomodations for a traveler. So you see, there are many ways to move, expand yours.

.elia