can you recall how you felt the first
day of school or when you just started a
new job
you were probably lost lonely and afraid
I know I was and you remember how you
felt when you already knew someone in
the new class or new job when you
already had a friend there or a helpful
colleague who was willing to help you
through the awkwardness of the first
days I’m sure you felt much more relaxed
and confident I feel the same whenever I
visit a new country or city because
wherever I do I already have a friend a
new friend a friend who will guide me
who knows all the little secrets of the
city who can speak the local language a
friend who will welcome into their home
and their life in one word this is known
as couchsurfing a website which connects
locals with travelers from all over the
world and this is how I’ve been
travelling for 10 years I visited more
than 40 countries and been welcomed into
over 120 homes but I’m not here to tell
you about traveling most people agree
it’s fun to go on holiday rather I want
to share with you my personal story
about how getting to know people through
traveling has radically changed my
understanding of the world I have stayed
in very different homes with people from
very different backgrounds with singles
couples students families with
Christians Muslims Buddhists with white
people black people are brown people in
a hammock on the rooftop and once I even
slept with five rats in the room you may
think that all this is exciting but
still falls into them do not try this at
home category well I’ve tried it and it
was amazing what’s more I welcome nearly
100 adventures from all
over the world into my own home as well
you may wonder can something be more
bold than inviting complete strangers to
stay in my house yes doing this in my
parents house can you imagine my parents
first reaction when a complete stranger
knocked at our door
I remember how one day my uncle spotted
an Indian guest entering to our house he
immediately called my mom to warn her
that some brown suspicious stranger just
wandered into our yard what my uncle did
not see however was how the guy just
parked his car which was the latest BMW
model this is how it all started as time
went by my parents have gradually
accepted the fact that we are welcoming
foreigners to our home they went from
being afraid that these people wants to
steal our 45 inch TV at the beginning to
how they’re now where they’re actually
excited to meet my newest guest to talk
with them to sit down for a meal
together and to try their exotic dishes
this is not just about my non
Globetrotter family I also had to
unlearn a lot of my own biases before
actually I could learn something new
when I joined this community I thought
it’s a fun way to make new international
friends with whom I could practice
English try their cuisine and have
places to stay in other countries but
after these 10 years I can easily say
that what I received is a lot more it is
a new attitude it is a lesson for life
of course I had many dogs during these
10 years especially about how and why I
should trust all these people with whom
I had really nothing in common but I
look past my preconceived notions and I
took the time and courage to get to know
them I did so by always finding the
good in people hitchhiking was an
exercise in this and I did lots of it in
various countries sometimes I had only a
couple of hours to get to know person
sometimes a few days and during this
time I could break down the stereotypes
often propagated by the media let me
tell you one of my favorite stories one
that truly contributed to the changing
me I was being hosted by a young
gradient student when I was traveling in
Iran before actually meeting him in
person he quite often called me babe in
the text messages we exchanged my
friends were freaked out by the
flirtatious tone because we’re all
familiar with the stereotypes about
Middle Eastern guys I have to admit that
it also crossed my mind to cancel my
stay but in the end I decided to meet
him I quickly discovered that he had
only good intentions and was a very kind
person in Persian culture it is common
to use such terms of affection even with
casual friends and acquaintances we
easily connected and he welcomed me into
his family I got to spend a traditional
Persian holiday seized Abu Dharr
together with his family and as a
goodbye present he gave me a bottle of
nail polish what we see or read in the
news are so often negative we hear about
terrible things people do in other
countries it is easy to be afraid of
other people when we don’t know them let
me ask you a question when was the last
time you read or watched something
positive on the news about Iran last
year I spent my 30th birthday travelling
in Iran
I was just backpacking visiting some old
new friends until I unexpectedly found
myself delivering a presentation in an
urban studies course in one of the
biggest universities in Iran you have to
know that I’m nowhere
and I never done anything like this
before but since my friend who was a
teacher invited me to do it I was
actually happy to talk about the public
spaces of Budapest the city where I’m
currently living i presented how the
Liberty Bridge came alive during the
summer of 2016 when the entire bridge
was closed off to traffic and it quickly
became the coolest public space in the
capital I’ve always been afraid of
public speaking I still have and of
course I’m not an expert on this subject
so you can guess it was not the best
presentation in my life however it was
enough to trigger a very interesting
discussion among the students their
teacher and myself imagine two bridges
4000 kilometers apart in two very
different countries would you think that
people are doing the same things on the
bridge these days witness how countries
and their citizens are becoming more and
more closed they are closing both their
borders as well as their minds it is
important to remind each other that
despite of all the differences in skin
color religion or languages people are
essentially the same all over the world
by showing the real me my real family
and my real City to my guests I’m
offering them a journey any experience
of my culture and this is what I already
received in return from them with an
open mind I was able to see the world
differently and you can too you can see
the world not as a scary place full of
strangers but as a world full of friends
you haven’t met yet remember we all
begin life as strangers thank you you
day of school or when you just started a
new job
you were probably lost lonely and afraid
I know I was and you remember how you
felt when you already knew someone in
the new class or new job when you
already had a friend there or a helpful
colleague who was willing to help you
through the awkwardness of the first
days I’m sure you felt much more relaxed
and confident I feel the same whenever I
visit a new country or city because
wherever I do I already have a friend a
new friend a friend who will guide me
who knows all the little secrets of the
city who can speak the local language a
friend who will welcome into their home
and their life in one word this is known
as couchsurfing a website which connects
locals with travelers from all over the
world and this is how I’ve been
travelling for 10 years I visited more
than 40 countries and been welcomed into
over 120 homes but I’m not here to tell
you about traveling most people agree
it’s fun to go on holiday rather I want
to share with you my personal story
about how getting to know people through
traveling has radically changed my
understanding of the world I have stayed
in very different homes with people from
very different backgrounds with singles
couples students families with
Christians Muslims Buddhists with white
people black people are brown people in
a hammock on the rooftop and once I even
slept with five rats in the room you may
think that all this is exciting but
still falls into them do not try this at
home category well I’ve tried it and it
was amazing what’s more I welcome nearly
100 adventures from all
over the world into my own home as well
you may wonder can something be more
bold than inviting complete strangers to
stay in my house yes doing this in my
parents house can you imagine my parents
first reaction when a complete stranger
knocked at our door
I remember how one day my uncle spotted
an Indian guest entering to our house he
immediately called my mom to warn her
that some brown suspicious stranger just
wandered into our yard what my uncle did
not see however was how the guy just
parked his car which was the latest BMW
model this is how it all started as time
went by my parents have gradually
accepted the fact that we are welcoming
foreigners to our home they went from
being afraid that these people wants to
steal our 45 inch TV at the beginning to
how they’re now where they’re actually
excited to meet my newest guest to talk
with them to sit down for a meal
together and to try their exotic dishes
this is not just about my non
Globetrotter family I also had to
unlearn a lot of my own biases before
actually I could learn something new
when I joined this community I thought
it’s a fun way to make new international
friends with whom I could practice
English try their cuisine and have
places to stay in other countries but
after these 10 years I can easily say
that what I received is a lot more it is
a new attitude it is a lesson for life
of course I had many dogs during these
10 years especially about how and why I
should trust all these people with whom
I had really nothing in common but I
look past my preconceived notions and I
took the time and courage to get to know
them I did so by always finding the
good in people hitchhiking was an
exercise in this and I did lots of it in
various countries sometimes I had only a
couple of hours to get to know person
sometimes a few days and during this
time I could break down the stereotypes
often propagated by the media let me
tell you one of my favorite stories one
that truly contributed to the changing
me I was being hosted by a young
gradient student when I was traveling in
Iran before actually meeting him in
person he quite often called me babe in
the text messages we exchanged my
friends were freaked out by the
flirtatious tone because we’re all
familiar with the stereotypes about
Middle Eastern guys I have to admit that
it also crossed my mind to cancel my
stay but in the end I decided to meet
him I quickly discovered that he had
only good intentions and was a very kind
person in Persian culture it is common
to use such terms of affection even with
casual friends and acquaintances we
easily connected and he welcomed me into
his family I got to spend a traditional
Persian holiday seized Abu Dharr
together with his family and as a
goodbye present he gave me a bottle of
nail polish what we see or read in the
news are so often negative we hear about
terrible things people do in other
countries it is easy to be afraid of
other people when we don’t know them let
me ask you a question when was the last
time you read or watched something
positive on the news about Iran last
year I spent my 30th birthday travelling
in Iran
I was just backpacking visiting some old
new friends until I unexpectedly found
myself delivering a presentation in an
urban studies course in one of the
biggest universities in Iran you have to
know that I’m nowhere
and I never done anything like this
before but since my friend who was a
teacher invited me to do it I was
actually happy to talk about the public
spaces of Budapest the city where I’m
currently living i presented how the
Liberty Bridge came alive during the
summer of 2016 when the entire bridge
was closed off to traffic and it quickly
became the coolest public space in the
capital I’ve always been afraid of
public speaking I still have and of
course I’m not an expert on this subject
so you can guess it was not the best
presentation in my life however it was
enough to trigger a very interesting
discussion among the students their
teacher and myself imagine two bridges
4000 kilometers apart in two very
different countries would you think that
people are doing the same things on the
bridge these days witness how countries
and their citizens are becoming more and
more closed they are closing both their
borders as well as their minds it is
important to remind each other that
despite of all the differences in skin
color religion or languages people are
essentially the same all over the world
by showing the real me my real family
and my real City to my guests I’m
offering them a journey any experience
of my culture and this is what I already
received in return from them with an
open mind I was able to see the world
differently and you can too you can see
the world not as a scary place full of
strangers but as a world full of friends
you haven’t met yet remember we all
begin life as strangers thank you you
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