CouchSurfing the World

Isn’t it strange how easy it is to smile yet so many faces I pass on the street are without expression, untrusting, drawn to a place they must be yet my guess is they would rather be somewhere else! A blank stare so alien I often wonder if I was to pull back the skin would I really find a metal skeleton underneath? Eyes drained with sleepless nights calculating the debt of survival, disconnected from our true power source recharging our dying batteries with coffee and useless text messages that keep us from falling asleep to a world that’s already sleeping. The only certain is that if we persist with eyes closed then all will continue as just a dream.    

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During a night out with the group I encountered my first dark experience in Mendoza. It’ not unusual or uncommon to find an English man rather joyful, loud and staggeringly confident in a bar, blame our parents, most of us grew up in pubs happily spending dads change from each pint on pool, juke boxes filled with the best of eighties albums and one penny sweets. Our culture has led us to feel like a tiger in the jungle around empty beer glasses, low smoky ceilings and the screams of the new born child whose mother is catching up on nine months without cheap cider in her system and whose father is looking deep into his empty glass wondering how many more pints he could be supping instead of spending his hard earned cash on plastic knickers to stop the little shite shitting everywhere! So excuse me for sometimes being rather loud and obnoxious, a leopard can’t change his spots. Yet don’t let our over indulgence fool you, an English man will always find his way home, will have just enough money left for a chippy, kebab or curry making sure not to fall asleep with an empty stomach, remain open and workable for any sexual suggestion lasting at least ten minutes before throwing up over the half worn skirt rolled up her back and always knows when it’s time to stop drinking,

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Buenos Aires boasts one of couchsurfings biggest and most active groups, i was honored to join them all for a crazy camping weekend in Tigre, a small town two hours outside the city.

Situated around beautiful scenery

Hundreds of tents which pitched

Over 150 surfers from all around the world arrived to join in the fun

Games played

Cs Olympics

Music everywhere

Asado and home made pizzas

Sweet

Having been recently robbed in Mendoza, a much needed escape to the wilderness of the Patagonia was in order.

First up the Moreno Glacier close to the small town of El Calafate

The end of a rainbow at the end of the world

Myself and fello surfer Ryan Clark dabbled in a wee space cake to heighten our mood for such an epic site

Contemplating how much whiskey i could drink with that much ice….

Spectacular

The Fish again on top of the world close to Bariloche

Bariloche

With the crazy crew from 1004..miss you guys

Beautiful Patagonia

Just what the fish needed after being caught in the net for a wee while..

IM BACK..

Whilst purchasing the basic foods for breakfast the following day in a small corner shop, i noticed a certain attention paid to the handling of local produce. The shopkeeper took pride and time to talk me through his selection of mouth watering cheese’s, carefully wrapped my eggs in newspaper like a much missed ‘Chippy’ back home. A sharp knife cut precisely through a fresh bread stick avoiding an avalanche of crumbs, whilst all the while the shopkeeper showcased a wonderful understanding of customer care so much so that i felt obliged to buy from him and without a doubt i knew I’d be back even if it meant buying something i didn’t really need. I hopped, skipped and frolicked on my way back to the apartment and sang to a perfect omelette hitting the high notes as the delightful blue cheese melted on my taste buds, washing it down with a delicious frothy mouthful of the creamiest milk I’ve ever had.  I was caught in a web yet content not to move.

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What better place is there to celebrate your first ever Octoberfest with a huge group of couchsurfers, gallons of beer and the best barbacue i’ve ever witnessed..

Argentina of course!

We warmed up the first night in style

Drinking up an appetite for the monster Babry the following day.

Over 50kilos of meat consumed in 3 days..

Each surfer volunteering to work as a team

With over a hundred steak sandwiches prepared, not a crumb wasted.

Satisfied stomachs resting in the sun.

Asterix the Gaul cups ready for ale!

After dinner games

Lots of beer and Fernet!

Drunken illusions

Cs mob

One of the best weekends of my life

Argentina rocks..Its everything and more i dreamed of..

thanks to all the super surfers for making it such an incredible memory for me

I will never forget

Salute

My wonderful friend and by now fully fledged manager Raquel surprised me with the best of gifts, a box of goodies from back home, Tetley Tea, Maltesers, Chocolate Hob Nobs and a giant jar of Marmite. Anyone that dares say English food is bad, well i have but two words ‘Your Wrong’!  Nobody could understand how i could crave such a vulgar, sticky, smelly substance that is the mighty Marmite as much as i couldn’t fathom how anyone could contemn such a delight. I will admit I’m a little contradictive as i hated Marmite as a child, however i felt the same way the first time my nose came close to a women’s sacred centre yet it never stopped me from acquiring the taste after several attempts!

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According to the native ‘Guarani’ legend the Goddesses of the Moon and Cloud came to the Earth one day to visit and stumbled across a ‘Yaguarete’ (a kind of jaguar) threatening to attack. An old man saves them and in compensation, the goddesses gave the man a new kind of plant, from which he could prepare a ‘drink of friendship’. Being an avid tea drinker back home i immediately warmed to a much missed ‘tea talk’; hot water from a flask is used to refill my ‘Gourd’ that’s already packed with dry ‘Yerba’. Using a ‘Bombilla’ (metal straw) i suck the water through the dried leaves attaining the caffeine fused aromatic taste. It’s something I’d expect to drink with ‘Tarzan’ should i ever meet the tree swinger!

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Before the cold of night pinched at my toes we left our bags in our room and had a stroll around the village. Stars began to flicker on as the sun wilted into a hazy blur, the hairs on my arms perked up as the temperature dropped, the eeriness and sinister silence was the perfect setting for something inhuman to take place. I imagined the dog barking before me turning inside out and latching its alien carcass onto the severed head of Govind, whilst I’m left alone battling zombies with a tin of hair spray and a box of matches, my forlorn screams unheard, another poor fish left to drown in the dryness!

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During my stay in Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay, i came across two fellow couchsurfers who´s story i feel deserves a special tribute. German born Igel and Paola Zimmermann sold everything they owned like myself and set off on a wild honeymoon adventure that is currently now in it´s seventh year traveling the world.

ON BICYCLES!!

Thats right folks, push bikes!!

Having fallen in love with Colombia, they decided to purchase some land and spent a year renovating a beautiful´Finka´ house as a future investment. During their stay a friend gave them a new addition to the family, a rat terrier puppy rightly named ´Rambo´.

Rambo with father Igel..

Once their new house was complete they decided to offer the property for other cyclists to stay for free and continue onwards in search of freedom, inspiration and a chance to live life to the max..

THIS TIME WITH RAMBO.

Who even has a custom made trailor of his own.

And of course his own passport.

Which is filled with positive comments from hotels and hostels that vouch that Rambo is a well behaved dog who doesn´t bark or pee indoors and is the softest, sweetest, luckiest dog alive.

Anything is possible folks

It was a honour to meet you guys and Rambo of course.

You can follow their awesome journey

Here