Couchsurfing is my new favorite social net. I checked it out this week prior to my trip to Palo Alto, and now CC and I have connected with 2 people in the real world and have gained two new friends. Our hosts showed us around the area, gave us a feel for what life was like in Palo Alto, and told us about the cool stuff they’re doing. We got a tour of Stanford Campus, went hiking, went to a cool place for dinner, got a homemade pancake breakfast, got some free rides, and had great conversations.
Although I’ve been to the Bay Area before, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a feel for what it would be like to live there until this past visit. It’s tough to assess a city when you’re just a visitor staying in hotels. Spending time in homes and apartments of people that actually live there and joining them in their nightly excursions is probably the best way to actually experience the city like a local. Thanks to Sasha and Vanae for hosting–good times, for sure.
I must admit, that Twitter & Facebook also came through. I tweeted about heading out to Cali, which got imported into my Facebook feed. My college buddy Wes saw this and mentioned that he had recently moved to San Fran and had some couches we could crash on. We spent two nights with Wes, ate fantastic Mexican food, and discovered two of the coolest bars I’ve been to in some time. Wes also introduced me to a pretty cool new band, Ghostland Observatory. Here’s a good track: Vibrate.
I love using the internet to connect with people in the physical world.
