This is the very reason why I still hitchhike and love couchsurfing-style initiatives, potluck dinners, and such, and why I encourage younger people to give these things a shot.
It opens you up to so many unique, wonderful (and occasionally scary) situations, and has a way of 'shaking loose' the structures that one inevitably builds up over time.
In fact, I caught myself hitchhiking sometimes just because of how much the people who picked me up seemed to enjoy or need it. I've had people give me their life story, or share something deeply personal that they really wanted to share, or simply enjoy my 'youthful' presence on a long, boring drive. Part of what makes it amazing is that there are so few pre-suppositions in the whole thing. You are likely to never meet the person who just shared his woes again, and sometimes that's exactly why they let themselves talk. But it's also possible that this one connection is the start of a wonderful, lifelong friendship.
I met one of my current best friends through CouchSurfing on the other side of the globe. It was quite likely that we'd never meet again, but instead we ended up spending a few years in the same city, even working together.
(plus, these kinds of thing have way of restoring one's faith in humanity. They're a great counter to the insulating processes that are especially present in Western-European society)
Comments
This is the very reason why I still hitchhike and love couchsurfing-style initiatives, potluck dinners, and such, and why I encourage younger people to give these things a shot.
It opens you up to so many unique, wonderful (and occasionally scary) situations, and has a way of 'shaking loose' the structures that one inevitably builds up over time.
In fact, I caught myself hitchhiking sometimes just because of how much the people who picked me up seemed to enjoy or need it. I've had people give me their life story, or share something deeply personal that they really wanted to share, or simply enjoy my 'youthful' presence on a long, boring drive. Part of what makes it amazing is that there are so few pre-suppositions in the whole thing. You are likely to never meet the person who just shared his woes again, and sometimes that's exactly why they let themselves talk. But it's also possible that this one connection is the start of a wonderful, lifelong friendship.
I met one of my current best friends through CouchSurfing on the other side of the globe. It was quite likely that we'd never meet again, but instead we ended up spending a few years in the same city, even working together.
(plus, these kinds of thing have way of restoring one's faith in humanity. They're a great counter to the insulating processes that are especially present in Western-European society)