Couch Surfing in Ireland, Better Than Hostels

When I decided to run the Dublin marathon I needed to sort out my travel plans. I acquired a plane ticket, registered for the marathon (which set me back about 100 Euros) and started looking at Hostel's and modest hotel accommodations. Through the course of searching for a hostel in Ireland I found Couchsurfing.com a networking website which connects travelers with locals. Couchsurfing.com allows for a user to search for a couch in or near a city. Each user who signs up on couchsurfing.com has the choice to offer their couch to fellow travelers in return for receiving the same. Basically you sign up and when you travel, you crash at someone else's place, and when they travel they crash at your place.

It was early in May 2006 when I first contacted Rory, a swell Irishman who hosted people fairly regularly and loved spreading his hospitality across the globe. I messaged several other surfers in Dublin, but Rory seemed to be the most genuine guy. We chatted back and forth over the internet for the next few months as I trained for the marathon and figured out my complete travel itinerary. Then in late October I messaged Rory for the last time saying, "I'll be taking off in a few hours and I will call you when I get near your flat". With a backpack over my shoulder and a suitcase stowed in the plane below I took my seat and as a nineteen year old boy I said goodbye to America and flew across the Atlantic for the first time in my life.

My travel woes were almost comical, as my plane was late in Chicago, and had to be rerouted to London Heathrow, where I hopped on Air Lingus. Air Lingus was probably the best airline I have ever flown, between the hospitality of the flight attendants and the aid the gate attendants gave me in locating my luggage. I finally touched down about 16 hours after leaving Kentucky and was in Ireland with nothing but a backpack and directions printed off Google maps.