couchsurfing

This summer I travelled to Australia for a month. A friend told me about this website, couchsurfing.com and how you can meet up or stay with people from different places over the world. I looked into it after this summer.

Oh this summer…

I had plans to live on the beach in the south of France for 6 weeks in the summer. I found a program with a university in New Jersey. I loved that I wouldn’t know anyone.

Finally summer came around and school was over. I was driving from Tucson to Long Beach. An 8 hour drive.

4 hours have gone and I am at the first snack stop and gas stop I find. 7 hours have passed and I find myself flipping out of control in my white SUV, moving sideways off the freeway. It happened with a sideswipe, which led me straight into the center divider wall, which then led me to sharply turn my wheel to the right and then nothing and everything. The car took over. Then I flipped 5 times to the other side of the freeway, into the arms of trees and bushes. I landed, it happened; numb and shaky I look around and see that there is broken glass all in my car and scattered blood. Since I was the only person in the car it hit me hard that it was me who was bleeding.

I went into emergency surgery for my left hand. Each finger looked like they had exploded from the inside, like a blooming rose. The muscles, bones, skin, tendons, were completely smashed and dangling. I came out of that first surgery with a cast on my arm. I was in that hospital for three days before I couldn’t stand it and walked out.

Naturally, I was forbidden by my parents to fly to France. I basically had no left hand but thank good Lord that I had my opposable thumb, nothing happened to that. All the other fingers were bandaged, stitched, iron pined in and weren’t moving.

So it took allll summer, 3 months until the day I went to school to heal enough. That is perhaps part of the reason why I decided to flee to Australia for winter break and not go home. They spoke English, and it was summer during our winter.

I was on couchsurfing the day I got back to Tucson. I couchsurfed the first three days of my trip. They were great, another traveler was staying there and he took us out with his friends, really made us feel welcome. You can pick who you stay with also.

But before I left I went to the spa to get a little waxage. I told the girl at the counter about my plan and about couchsurfing.

This was over 2 months ago. I called to schedule something else today and she thanked me for introducing her to couchsurfing and told me that she has already hosted 4 people, someone from Brazil, Ohio, Atlanta, and somewhere else. We are hanging out tomorrow night when I get into Long Beach.

Spring Break!