Visionary Troubadour

So as I was pricing tickets to Rio today, I received an invitation from a local Cordobes couple to “couchsurf” with them next week.  I met them at a CouchSurfing gathering earlier this week, and we shared a passionate conversation about the virtues of traveling deeply beyond one’s culture and exploring new ways of life.  I’ve begun to pay far more attention to how I FEEL when meeting new people than to what my head might say about them, and these two were bright souls.

She shared her personal story of how CouchSurfing transformed her view of the world and humanity, and it went something like this.  Her and her partner accepted a request from two international Couch Surfers, gave them the keys to their place and then left to work for the day.  All day long her mind berated her, “What are you doing?!”  ”Are you stupid?”  ”You can’t trust people!”  ”You’ll come back to nothing!”

When she and her partner returned later that evening the CouchSurfers were waiting for them with an amazing meal prepared, ready to serve and share with them.   Since then they’ve hosted travelers from all over the world, and their view of the world has shifted from being more fear-based to more love-based, from a dangerous world to a generous, connected world.

I’ve heard a similar story from many who’ve participated in the CouchSurfing community, where travelers don’s pay to stay at homes of people in the community all over the world.  When many people first hear of CouchSurfing, they withdraw, unable to imagine how people could invite complete strangers into their home, or how one might stay at the home of a complete stranger.  But from my experience it takes a certain kind of person to participate in this community; someone who’s generous, someone who’s implicitly trusting of humanity.  And those initial experiences of giving generously to and trusting a stranger, or receiving the generosity of and being trusted by a stranger can be deeply transformative.

As I share in my ebook, my first experience CouchSurfing happened when a beautiful, young Russian girl drove 2 hours to pick me up in Sacramento, California, and drove me to San Francisco, then gave me the keys to her place, inviting me to help myself to her bike, her food, her wifi and her place for the 3-day weekend.  My second experience was on a sailboat in San Francisco.  It shifted something in me immediately.

So, with plans to stay in Cordoba another week, I bought a one-way ticket to Rio today, and then I connected with the international travelers her in the hostel here.  As I told two American girls here about the magic of Brasil my eyes lit up and my whole body came alive.

I have a very warm invitation to Rio from a Brasilian girl I met through CouchSurfing.com.  And whilst in Rio, I intend to go deeper into the Santo Daime community there in Rio.  More ayahuasca journeys await!