The whole point of traveling is to see the world, learn about new cultures, cities and countries and meet new people. How can this goal be achieved when you don’t know anyone in your destination and you rely solely on a guide book?
Granted a guide book can give you insights into the history of a place and certain aspects about traditions and customs, but it doesn’t beat a tour given by a local. Locals are able to show you places that guide books don’t feature; those places that are still untouched by the commercialism of tourism. It is in discovering or being shown “secret” locations that you can truly experience the country for what it is while gaining an insider’s perspective.
Travel today is relatively easy and affordable which means creating a unique experience can be that much harder to do. It seems, however, that there are people in the world who dedicate themselves to making travel a unique experience for everyone. A new way of travel in the form of couch surfing, gives people the opportunity to form a connection to their places of destination by letting members stay on each other’s couches. It is indeed an indication of how interconnected the world really is and how important it is to take part in that connection.
I must admit that I am intrigued by the idea of traveling with free lodging while meeting people from all walks of life and plan on trying it out for myself soon.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Surfing the World
One man’s dream of enjoyable travel, has led to a new way of seeing the world.
by Nicolle Morales Kern
A great deal on airfare landed Casey Fenton in Iceland for a long weekend. The only problem was that he had no place to stay. As a solution to rotting in a hotel all weekend and playing Mr. Tourist, Fenton sent out an email to 1,500 students at the University of Iceland asking if he could crash on one of their couches. Within 24 hours he had about 100 people offering their couches to him. What resulted was a weekend of great stories, great fun, and new friends.
“That’s how I want to travel…every time,” Fenton says on his profile.
The idea for the CouchSurfing Project was born.
On January 1, 2003 Fenton launched the first site in beta with the help of Sebastien Giao Le Tuan, Daniel M. Hoffer, and Leonardo Bassani da Silveira. After some difficulties, Version 2.0 was re-built and re-organized through the Montreal Collective in 2006.
CouchSurfing is now a global community with over one million members from over 231 countries who crash on each others couches when they travel. The declared mission statement is to “internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding”.
A map of current users.
To become a member of CouchSurfing.com, a profile with as much information and pictures must be created. Each member goes through a verification process that checks a person’s address and credit card number. Another form of security is given through vouching and references. The only way someone can offer their couch for surfing is to have another member vouch for them. The more positive references and friends a member has, then the more trustworthy they are deemed to be.
Eyal Rojstaczer, a senior in Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University, has been a member of CouchSuring.com for about one and a half years. A friend of his introduced him to the website and since then he has never stayed at a hotel or youth hostel in his travels to Washington, D.C., San Diego, Ecuador and Mexico.
“I know when I plan a trip, I know people everywhere and I could go to many countries without spending a dime on lodging,” Rojstaczer says of the service.
As does the website, Rojstaczer stresses that it is not just about being able to stay somewhere for free.
“You get to meet new people, see things from a local’s point of view and travel for a longer period of time with the money you save,” he says.
Since September 2008, Rojstaczer has offered his couch to members and has hosted over 90 people. The most surfers in his house at one time was a group of 10 travelers and a woman traveling by herself. They slept on futons, a pull-out bed, couches and air mattresses. Rojstaczer currently lives with four other roommates, three of whom are also registered on the site. Due to the amount of people they have hosted and know, Rojstaczer says they are listed in the top 10 couches in Philly.
“It’s fun to help out travelers, make friends from around the world, hang out with them and show them around Philly when I have the time,” he says of offering his couches.
For more info:
www.couchsurfing.com
Friday, April 10, 2009
Diversion From Life
Does it ever seem to you that life gets in the way of life?
There are certain obligations that we all need to fulfill on a daily basis. As a student those obligations are for the most part class, homework, and work. While it cannot be denied that these obligations are enjoyable and fulfill a certain need in life, I can’t escape the feeling that sometimes they consume too much time. A routine sets in and before you know it life has become these obligations off-set by parties or just doing nothing on the weekends and daily travel is from your dorm/apartment/house to class and back.
Experiencing something new and unrelated to school, work or partying can be a welcomed diversion and distraction from the norm, while fulfilling a need that has gone unmet.
Such a fulfillment could be a hobby put off to the side due to lack of time, a trip to the museum, or just a picnic in the park with friends.
Last weekend, my diversion from the norm came in the form of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Time to reconnect with a friend and enjoy the weather was mine for the taking as we enjoyed the Japanese culture.
Making the time to enjoy a hobby or anything else of interest gives you the chance to relax, and experience new sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. You might meet new people or reconnect with others. It is a very important part of life as it gives you the chance to renew your energy and passion for those things done on a daily basis. So, go out and explore what Philadelphia and near-by cities have to offer and enjoy life.
-Nicolle Morales Kern
For Everything Philly check out:
http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211.html
www.phillyfunguide.com
There are certain obligations that we all need to fulfill on a daily basis. As a student those obligations are for the most part class, homework, and work. While it cannot be denied that these obligations are enjoyable and fulfill a certain need in life, I can’t escape the feeling that sometimes they consume too much time. A routine sets in and before you know it life has become these obligations off-set by parties or just doing nothing on the weekends and daily travel is from your dorm/apartment/house to class and back.
Experiencing something new and unrelated to school, work or partying can be a welcomed diversion and distraction from the norm, while fulfilling a need that has gone unmet.
Such a fulfillment could be a hobby put off to the side due to lack of time, a trip to the museum, or just a picnic in the park with friends.
Last weekend, my diversion from the norm came in the form of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Time to reconnect with a friend and enjoy the weather was mine for the taking as we enjoyed the Japanese culture.
Making the time to enjoy a hobby or anything else of interest gives you the chance to relax, and experience new sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. You might meet new people or reconnect with others. It is a very important part of life as it gives you the chance to renew your energy and passion for those things done on a daily basis. So, go out and explore what Philadelphia and near-by cities have to offer and enjoy life.
-Nicolle Morales Kern
For Everything Philly check out:
http://www.gophila.com/C/Things_to_Do/211.html
www.phillyfunguide.com
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Japan at your doorstep
An annual celebration of spring proves that you do not have to travel the world to experience a new culture.
by Nicolle Morales Kern
The sun shone and warmed visitors as they walked along the cherry groves in front of the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park. Transported into a world of Japanese culture, 40,000 visitors from the Philadelphia area joined the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP) in the celebration of Sakura Matsuri, the annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival on April 5.
“Now in its 12th year, the Cherry Blossom Festival is a celebration of the change of seasons, the blooming flowers and Japanese culture, society and education,” Sam Malissa, Assistant Director of JASGP said in a phone interview.
Malissa, who has strong ties to the Japanese culture, has worked at JASGP for the past three years and said the meaning of the festival is two-fold: historical and philosophical.
Historically, the Japanese government donated 1,600 flowering trees, including cherry trees, to Philadelphia in honor of America’s 150th anniversary of Independence. The cherry is the national flower of Japan and also a symbol of friendship that the country extends to others.
JASGP, established in 1994, decided to continue with the tradition of giving and maintaining cherry trees in Philadelphia in 1998. A 10 year goal to plant 1,000 trees was set and met by 2007. Most of the trees can be found in Fairmount Park, but there are smaller groves throughout the city as well.
“Philosophically, the beautiful cherry trees only bloom for about two weeks in the year,” Malissa said. “You have to stop and smell the flowers as they will be gone by the end of next week.”
On Forester Stage, the Swarthmore Taiko Drummers captured the spirit and enlivened the soul. Dancers from the University of the Arts introduced spectators to the stylized drama of Kabuki dancing for the first time this year.
“Both groups have been trained by Isaburoh Hanayagi, Professor of Performing Arts at Tamagawa University in Tokyo,” Malissa said.
Hanayagi has spent the past year as Cornell Distinguished Visiting Professor of Swarthmore College. During his time in the United States Hanayagi has been training local groups in the art of Kabuki dancing and Taiko drumming. Hanayagi’s students from Japan have been coming to Philly for the past six years to perform at the festival.
As the fest came to an end, visitors walked around the pond, enjoyed sushi and the band Otokage from Tokyo rocked into the evening.
“It was great to see so many people interested in the culture, enjoying the performers and the cherry blossoms,” Malissa said of the turnout at the festival.
Related Links:
http://www.jasgp.org/
http://jasgp.org/cherryblossomfestival/
http://www.usgo.org/resources/whatisgo.html
by Nicolle Morales Kern
The sun shone and warmed visitors as they walked along the cherry groves in front of the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park. Transported into a world of Japanese culture, 40,000 visitors from the Philadelphia area joined the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP) in the celebration of Sakura Matsuri, the annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival on April 5.
“Now in its 12th year, the Cherry Blossom Festival is a celebration of the change of seasons, the blooming flowers and Japanese culture, society and education,” Sam Malissa, Assistant Director of JASGP said in a phone interview.
Malissa, who has strong ties to the Japanese culture, has worked at JASGP for the past three years and said the meaning of the festival is two-fold: historical and philosophical.
Historically, the Japanese government donated 1,600 flowering trees, including cherry trees, to Philadelphia in honor of America’s 150th anniversary of Independence. The cherry is the national flower of Japan and also a symbol of friendship that the country extends to others.
JASGP, established in 1994, decided to continue with the tradition of giving and maintaining cherry trees in Philadelphia in 1998. A 10 year goal to plant 1,000 trees was set and met by 2007. Most of the trees can be found in Fairmount Park, but there are smaller groves throughout the city as well.
“Philosophically, the beautiful cherry trees only bloom for about two weeks in the year,” Malissa said. “You have to stop and smell the flowers as they will be gone by the end of next week.”
Over the past 12 years the festival has evolved from a two event celebration to a month-long festival, from the beginning of March to April, that includes over 48 events such as Japanese Food Tasting, Sake Fest, Taiko Drumming workshops and many others. The Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festival is now the second largest after Washington D.C.’s. Culminating in the Sakura Matsuri, adults and children alike enjoyed activities such as face painting, origami, calligraphy, kite making, robot sumo wrestling, and the game of Go while taking in the beauty of Japan’s national tree.
On Forester Stage, the Swarthmore Taiko Drummers captured the spirit and enlivened the soul. Dancers from the University of the Arts introduced spectators to the stylized drama of Kabuki dancing for the first time this year.
“Both groups have been trained by Isaburoh Hanayagi, Professor of Performing Arts at Tamagawa University in Tokyo,” Malissa said.
Hanayagi has spent the past year as Cornell Distinguished Visiting Professor of Swarthmore College. During his time in the United States Hanayagi has been training local groups in the art of Kabuki dancing and Taiko drumming. Hanayagi’s students from Japan have been coming to Philly for the past six years to perform at the festival.
As the fest came to an end, visitors walked around the pond, enjoyed sushi and the band Otokage from Tokyo rocked into the evening.
“It was great to see so many people interested in the culture, enjoying the performers and the cherry blossoms,” Malissa said of the turnout at the festival.
Related Links:
http://www.jasgp.org/
http://jasgp.org/cherryblossomfestival/
http://www.usgo.org/resources/whatisgo.html
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