Last Updated: 8/12/20 | August 12th, 2020
One of my preferred sites is Couchsurfing. It’s a site that enables you to link with locals abroad as well as get a location to stay, a buddy to show you around, as well as regional information.
I keep in mind I utilized it when I was very first traveling as well as stayed at this beautiful house in Athens. I’ve grown to like it even much more because they added a “Hangouts” features so you can discover people to satisfy for drinks, a museum visit, or a bite to eat.
Celinne, on the other hand, produced — as well as utilized — her own personal social network. She traveled the world only staying with buddies as well as buddies of friends. She reached out on the web as well as discovered strangers prepared to open their house to her. Not only did this assist her lower her travel costs, it enabled her to satisfy wonderful, fascinating, as well as kind-hearted people.
To me, travel is about the human connections we make — as well as she discovered a method to make some fantastic ones. Here’s her sharing her story, what influenced her to do this, as well as what she discovered along the way.
Nomadic Matt: tell us about yourself. chi sei? What drives you?
Celinne Da Costa: My like story with travel dates as far back as I can remember: I was born in the heart of Rome to an immigrant Brazilian mom as well as a German-raised Italian father.
Since leaving Italy, I’ve gone from living in the quintessential suburbia communities that American dreams are made of, to frenziedly checking out Philadelphia while balancing my studies at university of Pennsylvania, to adventuring my method with every nook as well as cranny of new York Città.
Last year, I left behind my business marketing task in the city to style my dream life from scratch. I began with a journey around the world, in which I harnessed the power of human connection as well as generosity to stay with 70+ strangers in 17 countries across four continents.
Eighteen months later, I’m still traveling full-time as well as composing a book about my experience circumnavigating the globe by couchsurfing with my social network.
What fuels your enthusiasm for travel?
Travel accelerates personal growth as well as difficulties me to ended up being the very best version of myself. There are so numerous gorgeous locations in the world, however after a while, they begin to blend into one another. What really makes travel important is the lessons it can instruct you, if you are prepared to be present as well as pay interest to your environment.
Travel has assisted me establish the humility as well as goodwill to discover from people that I satisfy along the way. It has pushed me to comprehend my insignificance on this planet, yet still take actions that will positively effect others.
Most importantly, it has challenged me to open my heart to others as well as online in the moment. Ultimately, travel is not a matter of what I see, however who I ended up being along the way. I don’t requirement to see the entire world. I just want to feel it run with my veins.
Tell us about this long experience you were just on. exactly how did you believe of it? exactly how long did it last? Dove sei andato? Che cosa hai fatto?
I didn’t want to just stop my business 9-5 task on a whim as well as travel the world without a plan. I wished to make travel into a lifestyle, not a sabbatical, so I chose to style a job that would:
Incorporate my primary enthusiasms (travel, writing, as well as making connections with fascinating humans)
Create chances for a way of life modification when I was done.
I challenged myself to style my dream life, attempt to online it out for six months and re-evaluate when I got there.
That’s where the concept of my social experiment came from: I circumnavigated the globe by couchsurfing with my network. I wished to reincorporate genuine human connection back into my life.
During this time, I never utilized Couchsurfing because everybody who held me was linked to me somehow (friends, buddies of friends, people I satisfied on the road).
I ended up being on the road for nine months for this project, as well as having 73 holds in 17 countries across 4 continents: I passed with Europe, the middle East, Southeast Asia, Oceania, as well as the United States.
How did you really discover holds to hold you? exactly how far ahead did you understand where you were going to sleep?
There were no sites involved! only sheer human connection. All the interactions were initiated by me and were enabled by my phone (texting, voice notes, calling) as well as social network (mostly Instagram as well as Facebook).
I reached out to everybody I understood telling them about my job as well as asking whether they understood somebody they might link me with. I kept moving from one connection to the next up until I discovered somebody prepared to hold me. As my job grew as well as people started discovering out about it, holds started to reach out to me with Instagram.
I only had a one-way ticket to Italy (where I’m originally from) booked – whatever else was on a whim. I had a general trajectory of where I was going, as well as I would add or subtract locations depending upon my holding situation.
There were locations I wished to go to no matter what, so there were frequently times when I was down to the cable as well as didn’t discover a hold up until very last minute. other times, I had holds lined up months ahead.
It always worked out – I was only left without a hold once, in Croatia. I ended up renting a inexpensive space last minute, however luckily, I did make some regional buddies on that trip so I’ll have a location to stay if I return!
What was the furthest connection with a hold that you stayed with? exactly how did that happen?
My furthest connection was seven degrees in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was: my mom’s friend’s girlfriend’s client’s client’s co-worker’s friend. It was crazy exactly how it happened. I kept having a hard time to discover a place, as well as each person would pass me along to somebody else they knew until eventually, somebody was offered as well as prepared to host. This occurred a number of times during my travels – I likewise had lots of five- as well as six-degree connections. I was taken aback by exactly how devoted people were to discovering me a location to stay.
Did you ever satisfy somebody on the road as well as stay with them? Or did you strictly stay with buddies of friends?
Si Sempre! There was never a point when I had all my holds lined up – I typically had my next couple of destinations planned, as well as whatever else up in the air. I was continuously satisfying as well as befriending travelers on the road, as well as upon hearing about my project, a large majority would offer to hold me without me even asking.
For example, I satisfied an older gentleman for all of 30 minutes as I was leaving a meditation retreat in Nepal (which, funny enough, was likewise part of my project: my Kathmandu’s cousin worked so I was his guest). in spite of understanding me so briefly, he provided to hold me in Tasmania. I ended up going to his as well as his wife’s farm (located in the middle of nowhere) six months later with one more host, as well as it was amazing.
Four total strangers ended up costs an entire evening sharing stories about our travels as well as philosophies on life over a feast of freshly caught crayfish as well as vegetables chosen from their garden.
Tell us a few hold stories that totally amazed you when you were on the road.
If there is anything I discovered from satisfying numerous people during my travels, it’s that there is so much much more than we might ever fathom going on below the surface of a human being. It is our nature to categorize things.
With people, it has a tendency to be by culture, race, geography, religion, etc. If you make an active effort to put these classifications aside, sit down with locals, as well as demonstrate some fundamental rate of interest in their lives as well as stories, you’ll discover that each person is their own universe.
In fact, the most amazing nuggets of wisdom I’ve gotten came from people who didn’t even recognize their own brilliance.
One of my preferred encounters was with Maung, an older gentleman that I satisfied who was a hotel manager in Myanmar. After some conversation, I discovered out he smuggled cows to Thailand for a living when he was younger, as well as was a commander in the guerilla combating motion against the oppressive program together with a monk who later ended up being well-known for his humanitarian efforts towards orphaned children. Che storia!
Then, there is Adam, the Italian-American hold I fell head-over-heels in like with (spoiler: we broke up). We grew up less than an hour away from each other in the us yet I discovered him while he was living in Australia.
Lastly, I’ll never fail to remember asking my hold Anna in Bali whether she understood of a spiritual healer as well as her telling me that she dealt with one. That week, I spent many of my evenings sitting on their patio in an Ubud village, talking about the implying of like as well as happiness as they proceeded to institution me on life with their smart Balinese philosophy.
What difficulties did you have Couchsurfing around the world? exactly how did you offer with them?
I might never anticipate the comfort or place benefit of my accommodation, so I truly had to discover to choose the flow as well as not set any type of expectations.
I’ve stayed in penthouses with my own personal room, bathroom, as well as maid, as well as I’ve likewise stayed in cots on the floor of a village with a hole for a toilet. It’s funny since a few of my many “uncomfortable” holding accommodations ended up being my richest as well as finest experiences, as well as vice versa.
Anche, “reading” my holds was a challenge. Their reasons for holding me were so different: some wished to pay it forward, others wished to actively show me their city as well as pick my brain, others were only providing a location to stay however didn’t necessarily want to socialize. I had to sharpen my people skills so I might stay respectful as well as intuitive to people’s limits (or lack thereof).
What are your suggestions for people who are influenced by your story as well as want to do this on their own? What are some fantastic resources you suggest to use?
Identify what you are passionate about, as well as try to develop your travels around what works for you. My job was successful since I tapped into my strengths as well as passions.
If you’d like to produce a job around your travels, I suggest you personalize it around your preferences: if you are an introvert as well as dislike speaking to people, for example, costs hours a day chatting with people as well as asking them to hold you may not be the very best idea.
Make your journey fun by catering to what you realistically feel comfortable as well as pleased doing, as well as make sure you do some planning ahead of time.
My finest resource was fellow travelers who had likewise done round-the-world trips. When I was believing about doing this trip, I reached out to full-time travelers on Instagram, asked buddies if they understood people who went on long travel trips, as well as did a great deal of “blog surfing.”
I had so numerous Skype phone calls with strangers who had just completed round-the-world trips before I left for my own. speaking with my doubts, fears, as well as confusions – as well as being reassured that I would be alright – made me so much much more comfortable with leaving.
Specifically, my trip was influenced by one of my mentors Leon Logothetis, who is the author of book (and now TV show) The generosity Diaries. He traveled the world on a yellow motorbike depending on people to offer him gas, food, or shelter, to show to himself as well as to others that humanity was kind.
Other books I likewise checked out that prepared me for the trip were Vagabonding by Rolf Potts, The Art of travel by Alain de Botton, as well as A new Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s function by Eckhart Tolle.
How do you make your money last on the road? What are a few of your finest tips?
My top suggestions for people trying to make it work economically on the road:
1. understand your weaknesses, as well as plan for them – I’m awful at numbers as well as never budgeted before, however I understood I would have to if I wished to make this work financially. I produced an excel sheet as well as for the past 18 months, have been documenting as well as categorizing every single cost so I can track where I requirement to cut down if necessary.
I likewise understood I’d go crazy if I didn’t sometimes treat myself to something I liked however wasn’t necessary, so I provided myself a monthly “frivolous stuff” allowance.
2. always keep in mind that you can barter or work out – traveling as well as negotiating on the road taught me that currency is not only monetary – it is social as well. I did not have plentiful funds, however I did have a skillset: I am a brand strategist by trade, in addition to a writer, social network influencer, as well as material creator.
When negotiating with dollars didn’t get me anywhere, I would offer my services in exchange for products or services of similar perceived value. In numerous areas of the world, people respond favorably to a favor-exchange.
If advertising isn’t your skillset, that’s completely okay too! I’ve seen people barter all type of skills for experiences of locations to stay: for example, exchanging farm work or mentor English for space as well as board, assisting a little company with coding a site in exchange for totally free tours, etc. Le possibilità sono infinite!
3. accept the minimalist way of life – When I’m on the road, I online a extremely minimalist lifestyle. I only travel with a carry-on to keep my possessions to a minimum, I barely purchase mementos or clothes, I walk or take public transportation whenever possible, as well as I purchase many of my food at the grocery store.
I typically don’t pay for culture as well as history-related activities or tours; I email locations ahead of time, tell them about my job as well as that I’m a writer (in addition to having my own social network following, I likewise compose for some major publications…both which I accomplished by producing this social experiment).
Since I stay with locals, I don’t pay for accommodation, which assists tremendously.
Were your household as well as buddies supportive of your traveling adventure?
Surprisingly, yes. I was originally anxious to tell my household as well as buddies about my plan to stop my task to travel around the world by sleeping in random people’s houses – I truly expected them to try to talk me out oin forma.
Anche se una manciata di loro lo ha fatto