Ever heard of Couch Surfing? Travel the World this way!

I wouldn't do it myself at my age, but if I were still young, this would be well cool. My daughter told me about it. It's an international social media site by which people offer a free bed to travellers. My daughter is presently in China with a friend, and they stayed in Beijing with Ben, a young Chinese guy, who met them at the airport, put them up for a couple of days, and showed them around the town. He was great, she says.
It might sound dodgy, but it works a bit like ebay, in that "users" give recommendations and reviews. Ben speaks English and the bed was actually in his parents' home, with their permission.

For young people who want to see the world, it's a great idea.
For instance, I checked my hometown Georgetown and found 10 people offering beds. Go to South America, Guyana, Demerara, Georgetown, and check out the people there. They all sound so nice!
http://www.couchsurfing.org/mapsurf.html
If I had a settled home myself I'd even consider being a host... but who wants to come to Eastbourne????

makes me want to go on the road again!

Not all of them offer a bed. Some of them only offer to meet and/or show people around, and that's good too.
(sorry fot the broken link in the OP, now fixed.)

CACTUSWENDY said:

You guys are way more trusting than I am. Wonder how long it will take for something bad to happen? I see this as a perfect set up for some mind blown jerk to ply his craft. I guess I am too old to think good vibes about this. I do hope this alllllllllll stays above board. It would be a really cool idea for younger folks.

Click to expand...

That's why the recommendations are so very important. There's a whole page on the site with advice on how to check your peeps first. But I am basically a trusting person so I am OK with it.

I actually did something similar a few years ago. I had to go to Germany for two weeks and leave my daughter and dog behind; she was about 14 at the time. I joined a "house sitting" site and found someone who was happy to stay in my home and look after it, daughter and dog for the two weeks. She was Australian, seeing the world, had many recommendations, and it turned out just fine.

I am basically a very trusting person; travelling for a year in SOuth America back when I was 19 I stayed with strangers all the time, but here you get to check them out in advance and that's good.

My daughter is very mature and sensible and I'm sure her trip will go fine -- she's going to Cambodia, Vietnam and India next. She has a very good radar for dodgy people and if she didn't trust someone she would not stay there.