HOW TO utilize YOUR social media network TO travel THE world

Last Updated: 8/12/20 | August 12th, 2020

One of my preferred sites is Couchsurfing. It’s a site that enables you to link with locals abroad as well as get a location to stay, a buddy to show you around, as well as regional information.

I keep in mind I utilized it when I was very first traveling as well as stayed at this beautiful house in Athens. I’ve grown to like it even much more because they added a “Hangouts” features so you can discover people to satisfy for drinks, a museum visit, or a bite to eat.

Celinne, on the other hand, produced — as well as utilized — her own personal social network. She traveled the world only staying with buddies as well as buddies of friends. She reached out on the web as well as discovered strangers prepared to open their house to her. Not only did this assist her lower her travel costs, it enabled her to satisfy wonderful, fascinating, as well as kind-hearted people.

To me, travel is about the human connections we make — as well as she discovered a method to make some fantastic ones. Here’s her sharing her story, what influenced her to do this, as well as what she discovered along the way.

Nomadic Matt: tell us about yourself. wie ben jij? What drives you?
Celinne Da Costa: My like story with travel dates as far back as I can remember: I was born in the heart of Rome to an immigrant Brazilian mom as well as a German-raised Italian father.

Since leaving Italy, I’ve gone from living in the quintessential suburbia communities that American dreams are made of, to frenziedly checking out Philadelphia while balancing my studies at university of Pennsylvania, to adventuring my method with every nook as well as cranny of new York Stad.

Last year, I left behind my business marketing task in the city to style my dream life from scratch. I began with a journey around the world, in which I harnessed the power of human connection as well as generosity to stay with 70+ strangers in 17 countries across four continents.

Eighteen months later, I’m still traveling full-time as well as composing a book about my experience circumnavigating the globe by couchsurfing with my social network.

What fuels your enthusiasm for travel?
Travel accelerates personal growth as well as difficulties me to ended up being the very best version of myself. There are so numerous gorgeous locations in the world, however after a while, they begin to blend into one another. What really makes travel important is the lessons it can instruct you, if you are prepared to be present as well as pay interest to your environment.

Travel has assisted me establish the humility as well as goodwill to discover from people that I satisfy along the way. It has pushed me to comprehend my insignificance on this planet, yet still take actions that will positively effect others.

Most importantly, it has challenged me to open my heart to others as well as online in the moment. Ultimately, travel is not a matter of what I see, however who I ended up being along the way. I don’t requirement to see the entire world. I just want to feel it run with my veins.

Tell us about this long experience you were just on. exactly how did you believe of it? exactly how long did it last? Waar ben je naartoe gegaan? Wat heb je gedaan?
I didn’t want to just stop my business 9-5 task on a whim as well as travel the world without a plan. I wished to make travel into a lifestyle, not a sabbatical, so I chose to style a job that would:

Incorporate my primary enthusiasms (travel, writing, as well as making connections with fascinating humans)

Create chances for a way of life modification when I was done.

I challenged myself to style my dream life, attempt to online it out for six months and re-evaluate when I got there.

That’s where the concept of my social experiment came from: I circumnavigated the globe by couchsurfing with my network. I wished to reincorporate genuine human connection back into my life.

During this time, I never utilized Couchsurfing because everybody who held me was linked to me somehow (friends, buddies of friends, people I satisfied on the road).

I ended up being on the road for nine months for this project, as well as having 73 holds in 17 countries across 4 continents: I passed with Europe, the middle East, Southeast Asia, Oceania, as well as the United States.

How did you really discover holds to hold you? exactly how far ahead did you understand where you were going to sleep? 
There were no sites involved! only sheer human connection. All the interactions were initiated by me and were enabled by my phone (texting, voice notes, calling) as well as social network (mostly Instagram as well as Facebook).

I reached out to everybody I understood telling them about my job as well as asking whether they understood somebody they might link me with. I kept moving from one connection to the next up until I discovered somebody prepared to hold me. As my job grew as well as people started discovering out about it, holds started to reach out to me with Instagram.

I only had a one-way ticket to Italy (where I’m originally from) booked – whatever else was on a whim. I had a general trajectory of where I was going, as well as I would add or subtract locations depending upon my holding situation.

There were locations I wished to go to no matter what, so there were frequently times when I was down to the cable as well as didn’t discover a hold up until very last minute. other times, I had holds lined up months ahead.

It always worked out – I was only left without a hold once, in Croatia. I ended up renting a inexpensive space last minute, however luckily, I did make some regional buddies on that trip so I’ll have a location to stay if I return!

What was the furthest connection with a hold that you stayed with? exactly how did that happen?
My furthest connection was seven degrees in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was: my mom’s friend’s girlfriend’s client’s client’s co-worker’s friend. It was crazy exactly how it happened. I kept having a hard time to discover a place, as well as each person would pass me along to somebody else they knew until eventually, somebody was offered as well as prepared to host. This occurred a number of times during my travels – I likewise had lots of five- as well as six-degree connections. I was taken aback by exactly how devoted people were to discovering me a location to stay.

Did you ever satisfy somebody on the road as well as stay with them? Or did you strictly stay with buddies of friends?
Ja altijd! There was never a point when I had all my holds lined up – I typically had my next couple of destinations planned, as well as whatever else up in the air. I was continuously satisfying as well as befriending travelers on the road, as well as upon hearing about my project, a large majority would offer to hold me without me even asking.

For example, I satisfied an older gentleman for all of 30 minutes as I was leaving a meditation retreat in Nepal (which, funny enough, was likewise part of my project: my Kathmandu’s cousin worked so I was his guest). in spite of understanding me so briefly, he provided to hold me in Tasmania. I ended up going to his as well as his wife’s farm (located in the middle of nowhere) six months later with one more host, as well as it was amazing.

Four total strangers ended up costs an entire evening sharing stories about our travels as well as philosophies on life over a feast of freshly caught crayfish as well as vegetables chosen from their garden.

Tell us a few hold stories that totally amazed you when you were on the road.
If there is anything I discovered from satisfying numerous people during my travels, it’s that there is so much much more than we might ever fathom going on below the surface of a human being. It is our nature to categorize things.

With people, it has a tendency to be by culture, race, geography, religion, etc. If you make an active effort to put these classifications aside, sit down with locals, as well as demonstrate some fundamental rate of interest in their lives as well as stories, you’ll discover that each person is their own universe.

In fact, the most amazing nuggets of wisdom I’ve gotten came from people who didn’t even recognize their own brilliance.

One of my preferred encounters was with Maung, an older gentleman that I satisfied who was a hotel manager in Myanmar. After some conversation, I discovered out he smuggled cows to Thailand for a living when he was younger, as well as was a commander in the guerilla combating motion against the oppressive program together with a monk who later ended up being well-known for his humanitarian efforts towards orphaned children. Wat een verhaal!

Then, there is Adam, the Italian-American hold I fell head-over-heels in like with (spoiler: we broke up). We grew up less than an hour away from each other in the us yet I discovered him while he was living in Australia.

Lastly, I’ll never fail to remember asking my hold Anna in Bali whether she understood of a spiritual healer as well as her telling me that she dealt with one. That week, I spent many of my evenings sitting on their patio in an Ubud village, talking about the implying of like as well as happiness as they proceeded to institution me on life with their smart Balinese philosophy.

What difficulties did you have Couchsurfing around the world? exactly how did you offer with them?
I might never anticipate the comfort or place benefit of my accommodation, so I truly had to discover to choose the flow as well as not set any type of expectations.

I’ve stayed in penthouses with my own personal room, bathroom, as well as maid, as well as I’ve likewise stayed in cots on the floor of a village with a hole for a toilet. It’s funny since a few of my many “uncomfortable” holding accommodations ended up being my richest as well as finest experiences, as well as vice versa.

Ook, “Lezen” mijn ruimen was een uitdaging. Hun redenen om me vast te houden waren zo anders: sommigen wilden het vooruit betalen, anderen wilden me actief hun stad laten zien en mijn hersenen koos, anderen gaven alleen een locatie om te blijven, maar wilden niet noodzakelijk socialiseren. Ik moest de vaardigheden van mijn mensen slijpen, zodat ik misschien respectvol zou blijven en intuïtief voor de grenzen van mensen (of het gebrek daaraan).

Wat zijn uw suggesties voor mensen die worden beïnvloed door uw verhaal en dit alleen willen doen? Wat zijn enkele fantastische bronnen die u voorstelt te gebruiken?
Bepaal waar u gepassioneerd over bent en probeer uw reizen te ontwikkelen rond wat voor u werkt. Mijn werk was succesvol, omdat ik zowel mijn sterke en passies op mijn sterke punten en passies heb aangebracht.

Als je een baan rond je reizen wilt produceren, raad ik je aan het te personaliseren rond je voorkeuren: als je een introverte bent en niet van het spreken van mensen, bijvoorbeeld, kost uren per dag met mensen en vraagt ​​u hen Om vast te houden is u misschien niet het allerbeste idee.

Maak je reis leuk door te voorzien in wat je je realistisch comfortabel voelt en tevreden bent, en zorg ervoor dat je van tevoren wat planning doet.

Mijn beste bron was collega-reizigers die ook rond de wereldreizen hadden gedaan. Toen ik geloofde over het doen van deze reis, stak ik contact op met fulltime reizigers op Instagram, vroeg vrienden of ze mensen begrepen die op lange reisreizen gingen, en veel ‘blogsurfen’.

Ik had zo talloze Skype-telefoontjes met vreemden die net rond de wereldreizen hadden voltooid voordat ik voor mijn eigen wegging. Sprekend met mijn twijfels, angsten, evenals verwarring – evenals gerustgesteld dat het goed zou zijn – maakten me zoveel veel comfortabeler met vertrekken.

In het bijzonder werd mijn reis beïnvloed door een van mijn mentoren Leon Logothetis, die de auteur is van het boek (en nu tv -programma) The Generosity Diaries. Hij reisde de wereld over op een gele motor, afhankelijk van mensen om hem gas, voedsel of onderdak aan te bieden, om zowel aan zichzelf als aan anderen te laten zien dat de mensheid vriendelijk was.

Andere boeken die ik ook heb bekeken die me voorbereiden op de reis, waren vagebond door Rolf Potts, The Art of Travel door Alain de Botton, evenals een nieuwe aarde: ontwaken voor de functie van je leven door Eckhart Tolle.

Hoe laat je je geld op de weg duren? Wat zijn een paar van uw beste tips?
Mijn topsuggesties voor mensen die proberen het economisch onderweg te laten werken:

1. Begrijp je zwakke punten, en plan voor hen – ik ben verschrikkelijk in cijfers en nooit eerder begroot, maar ik begreep dat ik zou moeten als ik dit financieel wilde werken. Ik heb de afgelopen 18 maanden een Excel -blad geproduceerd, evenals het documenteren en categoriseren van alle kosten, zodat ik kan volgen waar ik indien nodig moet verminderen.

Ik begreep ook dat ik gek zou worden als ik mezelf soms niet zou trakteren op iets dat ik leuk vond, maar ik was niet nodig, dus ik gaf mezelf een maandelijkse “frivole spul” vergoeding.

2. Houd er altijd rekening mee dat je kunt ruilen of trainen – reizen en onderhandelen op de weg heeft me geleerd dat valuta niet alleen geldig is – het is ook sociaal. Ik had geen overvloedige fondsen, maar ik had wel een vaardigheden: ik ben een merkstrateeg van handel, naast een schrijver, sociale netwerkinvloed, evenals materiële maker.

Toen ik met dollars nergens met dollars had gekregen, zou ik mijn diensten aanbieden in ruil voor producten of diensten van vergelijkbare waargenomen waarde. In tal van gebieden van de wereld reageren mensen gunstig op een gunstuitwisseling.

Als adverteren niet jouw vaardigheden is, is dat ook helemaal oké! Ik heb mensen gezien dat alle soorten vaardigheden voor ervaringen van locaties om te verblijven, bijvoorbeeld, het uitwisselen van boerderijwerk of mentor Engels voor ruimte en boord, een klein bedrijf helpen bij het coderen van een site in ruil voor volledig gratis rondleidingen, enz. De mogelijkheden zijn eindeloos!

3. Accepteer de minimalistische manier van leven – als ik onderweg ben, online een extreem minimalistische levensstijl. Ik reis alleen met een handbagage om mijn bezittingen tot een minimum te beperken, ik koop nauwelijks aandenkens of kleding, ik loop of neem waar mogelijk het openbaar vervoer, evenals ik koop veel van mijn eten in de supermarkt.

I typically don’t pay for culture as well as history-related activities or tours; Ik e -mail locaties van tevoren, vertel hen over mijn werk en dat ik een schrijver ben (naast het volgen van mijn eigen sociale netwerk, stel ik ook op voor een aantal belangrijke publicaties … beide die ik heb bereikt door dit sociale experiment te produceren) .

Since I stay with locals, I don’t pay for accommodation, which assists tremendously.

Were your household as well as buddies supportive of your traveling adventure?
Surprisingly, yes. I was originally anxious to tell my household as well as buddies about my plan to stop my task to travel around the world by sleeping in random people’s houses – I truly expected them to try to talk me out ofit.

Hoewel een handvol van hen dat deed