CS/HC Meetup @ Browns!

Meeting up with members of Hospitality Club (HC) and other CouchSurfers (CS) at Browns felt like a reunion of two parties embracing a common ideal. Though we were taking jabs at each other sprouting the many merits and demerits of our respective organisations (and the usability of our respective websites), we managed to have a wonderful gathering of enlightenment and stories. The one impressive thing I found about these Polish members of HC touring through Beijing was how organised they were. I mean, they were all wearing matching HC t-shirts and had personalised name cards with their HC usernames on them. It was cute and professional at the same time. =)

Time to get my act together!

A very boisterous guy usernamed Toniwalia (and a tag line on his name card which read "Do not freak, for I am a SIKH.") shared with us a few amazing stories of his experience and history in ride-sharing, hosting, and "surfing", one of which was about some young teenage couple backpacking across Europe. He had hosted them for a while, then dropped them off the side of the freeway for them to hitch a ride with someone heading their way. Some weeks or months later, as Toniwalia was travelling on the same freeway to drop off some other hitchhikers, he had met the young teenage couple again by chance. The teenage couple were now on their way back across Europe and were on the other side of the freeway.

His story really made us all realise how small a world we live in. These coincidental run-ins will happen more frequently with networks such as CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club.

From pearly words of wisdom to travel tips, I was able to better plan for my upcoming South East Asia and Eurasian trip in a few month's time. I'm going to check out www.skyscanner.net for myself.

We were all treated to a delightful spectacle of a cute turtle race at Browns towards the end of our evening, and the manager had us all place bets on which turtle will cross over to the other side of the Plexiglas tank for free beers. Though I was not chosen as "the winner" (surprise, surprise), I managed to score a bottle of beer from Toniwalia as he doesn't drink. (Thanks again, Toni!)

Gatherings such as these and the cross-border networking opportunities it provides is why I will continue to "Pay it Forward" and be an active member of CouchSurfing for years to come.