Solo travelling can be pretty hard, especially when you're in a country like the US where there aren’t the same backpacker circuits that you might find somewhere like south east Asia, Central or South America. It's also relatively expensive here, and when you’re own it's hard to buy in bulk or split costs.
When I set off on my travels I had to be clear about what I wanted to get out of my time, for me this was; meeting interesting people, learning about organic farming communities, seeing family and outdoor adventures. Woofing has allowed me to learn about organic farming communities, and family is a given but the others have only been possible in a large part to couchsurfing. For those who don't know couch surfing is more than the term. It's a website that connects travellers and spare rooms/beds/couches for free, it works on a pay it forward basis unlike Airbnb (it also existed long before air bnb). As it’s developed over the years it's added new features including events, discussion groups and connections to other travellers in your area. Although I've met people through all sorts of different ways on this trip I think there is something unique about the Couchsurfing and traveller community it creates that deserves special mention.
Disclaimer
Some people are skeptical of couchsurfing, and of course travelling with people you don't know can always be risky. Although the biggest risk is by far the fact that you end up with a ton of uncomfortable silences rather than any real danger. Couchsurfing works on a reviewing system and is overwhelmingly safe, arguably more so than meeting random people in hostels. CS is always trying to improve things and the more of us that use CS the better it will be.
CS (Couch Surfing) Honolulu
When I arrived in Hawaii I was excited to spend time in this beautiful place, but also unsure how I might go about meeting people over the next month, staying with my aunt and uncle meant I didn't get the social scene of a hostel and although Hawaiians are very friendly Honolulu is a big city that can feel fairly distant at times.
Luckily Couchsurfing had the answer, a meet up on first Friday (a big night in downtown Honolulu) to check out cool art spaces and local bars, organised by two students. The people at this meet up became my go to buddies for the next month. They included Miguel (also a traveller) with who I went on food truck adventures up to the north shore and found some excellent parties to go to. Miguel then introduced me to yen who took me to all the best hiking spots on the island. Frances, who I shared many a story and coffee with. Francine and the Brazilian crew we gathered together to go jumping off waterfalls.
They all made my time on Oahu so excellent and interesting and I know the meet ups have continued since that original one hopefully providing a cool space for other travellers passing through Honolulu.
Big island adventures
To get around the big island of Hawaii (Called Hawaii) you really need a car and the notion of renting one myself seemed rather expensive. I posted on CS that I was heading to the big island and was contacted by Aaron, who in turn introduced me to Mei , who in turn introduced us to roman all via Couchsurfing.
We split the cost of a car and became a somewhat dysfunctional family with which to explore the volcanoes. There's something pretty unique about wandering down an old lava flow looking at ancient Hawaiian markings while roman (a militant atheist) argues with Aaron (a Buddhist hippy) over the nature of religion, followed by potluck dinner in a rainbow family/hippy commune that Aaron had come across and invited us all too.
Mei and I also wanted to find a host on the big island and we ended up staying with Sharon who we affectionately dubbed crazy jungle cat lady. She is a retired police officer from Arizona who lives down a dirt track in the jungle on the wet side of the island. Although Sharon claimed not to like people she clearly enjoyed having travellers as she’d built a rather nice guest quarters which, despite being outside, were completely waterproof and had a large bed and plenty of space. She herself lived in a shipping container she'd turned into a house with her many cats.
She was a total hoarder and the rest of her land was devoted to boxes of stuff, old vehicles and 50 odd chickens. She described in great length how she was prepared for a tsunami, and yes she had a gun and no the government weren't going to take it away from her. On paper she sounds like someone I wouldn't get on with but she was extremely interesting, she loved burning man festival and only stopped going because she moved to Hawaii. She also talked a lot about her time in the police force and her work setting up victim support for those who'd suffered rape and abuse (as one of the only women officers in her area). She also took us out to dinner, lent us camping gear and snorkelling stuff! I love Couchsurfing because you meet people who completely challenge all your preconceived notions of character types.
The green scene - my Portland Couchsurfing family
Most my time I spent in Portland I was woofing but on my days off I explored the city and its wonderful people. One day off coincided with a Portland CS meet up, I went along and generally has a great time with a mix of travellers and Portland transplants, as well as that moment where all the Jews in a room naturally and unknowingly gravitate towards each other.
Anyway at this event I met Brandi, 
the housemate of the guy who put on the event. We only chatted briefly but exchanged contact details on the off chance that we might meet on my next day off. We didn't quite manage but kept a conversation going, there are those moments when you just click with someone and you both realise it. Brandi said if I passed through Portland on my way down south I should definitely come crash, so I did! The house (or the green scene as it’s named) is in a beautiful part of the city and is completely set up for those on the road looking to experience all Portland has to offer. 
Although I spent most the time with Brandi everyone in the green scene made me feel part of their home, whether it was going to the hot pools at the Kennedy school with Amber, making huge grilled cheese sandwiches with John, playing foozball and jamming with don in the epic party basement he constructed. Chilling with Harvey, the house dog. Drinking whiskey and late night chats with Taylor who then made me this -
(The oregon state motto - She flies
With her own wings)
And of course Brandi who took me hiking, exploring, to buy weed (it's legal in Oregon- a weird adventure in itself) and of course to meet many other eccentric and lovely souls that fill the community of Portland. If I didn't already feel like Portland is a place I need to return, the green scene made it so.
Yosemite with an Argentinian
I mentioned earlier in my post that CS has set up forums to discuss travel plans and get hints and advice from locals, one such forum is about Yosemite National park. I posted in the forum hoping to find some advice about places to stay, tips on hiking and other travellers planning to head there. I quickly got a message from a guy named Mauro about his plans to go to Yosemite as part of his USA roadtrip. He’d already rented a car and booked into a hostel (which happened to be the same one i was planning to stay in...there’s only 1 hostel near yosemite!). Our dates matched up so we decided to join forces and head out to Yosemite together. I met up with him in San Francisco a few days before our trip to plan and to an extent check out that we clicked as we’d be spending a fair bit of time together. I ended up also meeting his CS host in San Fran, a guy named David who actually used to work for Couchsurfing. Anyway, we sat and planned adventures and so on a cloudy morning in San Francisco he picked me up and off we went to Yosemite National Park. 
You’d think that a 4 hour car journey (and subsequent 4 days spent together) with someone you’ve never really met might be a little difficult, and to be fair that can be a risk while travelling with people you met, but this certainly wasn’t an issue. We had everything to talk about, from LGBT life in our respective countries, to Mauro’s volleyball obsession, helping each other learn English/Spanish and singing along to Glee/Adele/Katy Perry in the car at the tops of our voices! We also made a crack team, Mauro led the driving whilst I lead the Hiking. I sorted out dinner while Mauro made packed lunch for the next day.
We were certainly both in awe of the beauty of Yosemite and both had a huge appreciation for the privilege we had to visit somewhere like this.
I feel incredibly thankful that I met Mauro and know for sure that I have a place to stay in Rosario, Argentina if i ever find myself there.
I'm not a rep for couchsurfing, although you can become an ambassador which seems pretty cool, but i'd really recommend it to any and all travelers and lovers of travelling all over the world.
