Sleeping Around?

You know I have always been concerned with my  reputation  but I have a confession to make...

I now sleep around.  I spend nights with guys I find on the internet... I did it again last weekend while I was in Lake Geneva.  But truth be known it's through a program called Couchsurfing.  Anyone can join that would like to experience first hand meeting new people, sharing life stories, city/ country.  Participants can choose to be ambassadors to their home cities by meeting for coffee, offering tourist advice, lodging whether it would be floor space, beds /even camping on their property.

In order to belong, you create a profile which includes info like age, languages you speak, regarding how / why you are a member/ types of people you enjoy/ what you can teach, learn/share, amazing things you've done and places you've travelled.  You also leave references that others can read.  Travelers can surf the membership for locales they will be visiting.  If you are not a people person, it's definitely not the organization for you.

Last weekend a friend who is a dental hygienist and I travelled to volunteer with 1000 other people at the Mission of Mercy Wisconsin's Free Dental Clinic. I had prearranged lodging through Couchsurfing before I knew if she was attending.  I knew hotels would be packed besides expensive and I'd rather stay in a home to have that 'people' experience.  Fortunately, my Couchsurfing hosts agreed to host both of us and my friend concurred, understandably a bit leery. The host I found shared interests ie : gardening, travel, chickens, tasty healthy food and I could sense creativity with interests in sewing and knitting.

Little did I know how much we would click . Take a look at this Chicago transplant's 4-H entries in knitting .  Are we kindred spirits or what?

 Although we were fed by the Dental Clinic sponsors we were blessed to experience our hostess's  out of the oven homemade biscuits and farm fresh eggs for breakfast.  In addition to some other yummy baked goods. Food is not a given as it is up to the host. (I always feed my guests if they're around at meal times)

We couldn't have asked for anything more from this Couchsurfing visit... except for time. This experience was with filled with lots of good conversation about numerous topics. There just wasn't enough time to visit since we were there to spend the majority of our stay at the clinic. But we had wonderful Couchsurfing hosts.

Ceramic Mosaic Ball
And there's whimsy everywhere you turn...

How could one not feel welcomed with the numerous seating arrangements sprinkled  throughout the property? Our hostess, yes a Master Gardener even teaches about Prairie Restoration so I was in heaven walking their 4 + acre grounds and viewing all the native prairie plants.

On top of their lovely lodge home accommodations, we even got to go sailing with our hosts on Sunday . Let's just say my once apprehensive friend is now hooked on Couchsurfing whether she admits it or not... I think I have created another loose woman.

Check it out: Couchsurfing.org   

You won't be sorry.  It makes the world a lot smaller and you just might meet a kindred spirit...