Couch Surfing In Charleston, South Carolina

I’ve been rollin. From Asheville, North Carolina to Charleston, South Carolina then down to South Florida and the southernmost point of the 48 contiguous states, Key West. The days have been full of activity with plenty of driving in between. Here's a segment from November 12th through the 13th. The Americana Road trip continues.

After a week in Asheville I bid farewell to my good friend Tim and his family. The condo his mother’s friend allowed me to use was awesome and greatly appreciated! As always it was great to catch up over a good hikes, meals, beers, and stories. A very fortunate aspect to my single traveling ways is that it allows me to keep up with friends, scattered about world, easier than most people can. It's difficult to maintain long distance friendships along with busy careers and familial obligations. In my situation there’s lots of flexibility and it’s not as hard to get away. Whenever traveling, I always consider whether or not I’ll be passing near someone I know.

Along with keeping up with friends one of the best things about travel is making new friends. When I left Asheville for Charleston, South Carolina I decided to try out Couch Surfing. Couch surfing is an old vagabond term used for traveling from one friends place to another seeking a couch to sleep on for a night. More recently this concept was taken to the internet and a collective of travelers and people simply interested in hosting travelers was formed. Couchsurfing.org was created as a social networking site to put the concept into action. When I first heard about it my reaction was the same as most any normal persons reaction, “What, show up and sleep at some strangers house?” Well, if you’re a backpacker traveler like myself and step beyond the initial reaction you might see that it can be a pretty good deal.

I had registered with Couch Surfing in mid October and took time to search profiles and all. The site has a number of ways of verifying a hosts identity and legitimacy. Once people have surfed a few times, and gain friends on the site, credibility improves as people leave references and vouch for each other. I had talked to others who had used the site and heard nothing but good things. I think as long as an individual approaches Couch Surfing with good discretion and common sense there shouldn’t be any problems. Also, I’d say it’s good to arrive early and meet the host first before finally moving in for a night or two. In a sense it’s not much different than finding a roommate through the internet or paper. Also, Couch Surfing is in no way intended to be a dating site. This is clearly stated when a person registers. Parameters are set to keep it in line as a way to meet and help other travelers who share common interests.

After searching the profiles I put in two requests for a couch in Charleston. One declined because he was busy but the other enthusiastically accepted. My host would be a Park Ranger / Archeologist by the name of Rebekah.

Since I was passing near the park that Rebekah works at, on my way to Charleston, I decided to drop in an introduce myself. First impression was very good as she instantly reminded me of other people I had worked with during my Wilderness Ranger days. She was super nice, friendly and gave me a tour of the park as we exchanged stories and got to know each other a little. After a nice visit we planned to meet again later at her place. I then took a slow drive into Charleston stopping at a couple old plantations along the way.

When I met up with Rebekah at her home she called two of her friends and we shared a couple of beers before heading into the city to partake in a Mac and Cheese festival for peace. Just like that I was in local company hanging out with locals. We joined the Mac and Cheese fest with 1500 hundred people and Rebekah seemed to know most everyone. If she didn’t know someone and they looked interesting she would just go up and introduce herself.

If you went to a Mac and Cheese Festival for peace in Colorado or California you would probably see a good deal of hairy hippies clad in funky clothing doting dreadlocks while reeking of incense and essential oils. In Charleston I saw none of that. Instead, a woman's attire consisted of sporty yet styli leather boots up to the knee, tight fitting designer pants with understated yet flashy shirt coupled with ¾ length jacket topped off with a well done natural hair doo and just the right amount of makeup. Women in Charleston know how to look good while raising money for peace and I took notice.

We followed up the festival by sampling local brews at a brew pub and riding a replica of the Civil War Hunley submarine like Slim Pickens rode the bomb in Dr. Strangelove. At the end of the evening Rebekahs friend, Amanda, offered to show me around Charleston the next day.

The following morning I met back up with Amanda and her sister for a tour of Charleston while Rebekah ran off to work. Amanda was very nice to share her vast knowledge of Charleston’s history as we spent the first half of the day looking around. By early afternoon Amanda had to go so I hopped the boat to Fort Sumter for the remainder of the day and toured the Civil War Fort that guards the entrance to the Charleston bay area.

That evening I caught up with Rebekah. We were both tired from the previous nights Mac and Cheese fest so we just hung out swapped stories.

I couch surfed at Rebekahs for two nights and was provided a camping cot in my own simple room. It was perfectly suited and very comfortable. The best part about the whole experience was simply getting to meet Rebekah. She’s a great host and an awesome person with a vibrant spirit. I feel like I’ve made new friend whom I’ll cross paths with again somewhere along the way.

From Charleston I planned a long drive south to Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood Beach. I put in a couple of couch requests for Ft Lauderdale but no luck. From there I planned to go to Key West. Searching profiles for a couch in Key West didn’t look good. There are a number of strange birds and obvious alternative lifestyle types listed so I wasn't sure what to think. I did put in one request but more or less figured I’d splurge on a reasonable accommodation of my own while there….. But first… I had to get to Florida….