Part of the CouchSurfing Community!

Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places we encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.
~ CouchSurfing vision statement

I’m psyched about couch surfing (couchsurfing.org). Because it provides a secure way for strangers to meet and stay in each other’s homes, it’s a great way to build community that transcends geographical boundaries. I was privileged to stay with some hospitable people in Canada, and Jim and I have begun to host people in our home, too. It’s already been enriching!
I love meeting people with an adventuresome spirit. I love the idea that people are willing to be open and available to each other, with no motive for personal gain. I love that the human community is simultaneously becoming larger and smaller. Above all, I love that humans can see ourselves as part of a worldwide community (I used to think it would take an attack from outer space for a global community to coalesce).
Here’s one more quote, from Desmond Tutu: We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.
Amen, brother.