Couch Surfing over Spring Break.

Well it's good to know that if I had to I could run off of four hours of sleep a night. But I will admit that it feels good to have gotten a full nights sleep these last few nights after over a weeks worth of sleepless nights. My bed got smashed by drunkies the other night at our Easter Potluck gone wrong, but even that didn't deter my glorious nights of sleep these past few days. I will leave the details up to your imagination.

I just got back from backpacking trip to northern (mostly) Italy over spring break. Over nine days I went to Venice, Verona, Lake Como, Milan and Pisa and Couch Surfed (Couchsurfing.com) with some awesome people. I wrestled a French and Korean while Couch Surfing at Massimo's in Venice, stayed with Sophie, Ruth and Sarah two British girls and an Italian girl in Verona and Couch Surfed with a fashion student named Olivier in Milan. I don't even prefer Couch Surfing because it's free. I would pay triple the price of a hostel to Couch Surf. I love it because you actually get to stay with someone who lives in the city you are visiting and it gives you a real idea of what the place is like. Plus these people are so personable and interesting it makes traveling alone almost more sociable than traveling with friends. Everyone was asking me if I go lonely traveling alone. I told them not really. I actually made some great friends and met some people that I don't think I could have met traveling in a group. The CS community is so tight it's kind of like every Couch Surfer is already friends, even before they meet. I love it and I will never travel another way.

My first stop was Venice. This city was unreal. It was impossible to get my head around the fact that it was an Island. Getting lost walking along the canals and crossing over bridges as gondoliers serenely (and sometimes boisterously) glided bellow me was infinitely enjoyable and never got old. I felt so sly sneaking onto the water buses to sail through the Grand Canal without buying tickets, up until the point I saw an old Italian lady sharing my cunning tactics. Not as cool as I thought. When I wasn't pirating my voyage on water buses I would pound the floating pavement on foot. My Converse have never gotten so much use before. A wrong turn would send me into a labyrinth of seemingly never ending narrow streets. But having no particular plans made getting lost not an inconvenience, but actually the purpose of my day. I called it "Let's get lost and see if I can get back to where I was. If possible, find something cool." Within the first day I realized this was a completely realistic goal. There was always something cool. On every corner. It's like they hid all these great spots in this city just for me to discover. In short, I don't know if there is or ever will be a city quite like Venice. I am not saying it's the best, but it is probably one of the most unique cities in the world.

And it gets better. Oh yeah. Remember the wrestling bit? Here it comes...

Now for a second, set aside any preconceived notions you may have about an Italian who invites strangers over to his house to come wrestle. I am aware of how crazy that sounds. It's nothing short of outrageous. I am not denying that it is a potentially dangerous situation to put yourself in, and I'm not just referring to the many wrestling related injuries that could be inflicted on a scrawny 135 pound American. The first thing people always ask me is "why do these people have strangers come over to their house to stay for free?" There has got to be an ulterior motive. It just doesn't make sense to invite a stranger to come stay with you for no outcome. And then when people hear the guy has wrestling matches at his house, they are even more sketched out. And by all means this is smart thinking. Staying with strangers you meet on the internet is probably not a high percentage move, let alone ones that wrestle. But I feel like the skepticism of Couch Surfing can only be overcome when you try it. It's indescribable, but the only thing hosts care about is cultural exchange with people from around the world. And the people who would try to use Couch Surfing for sinister purposes would have a difficult time overcoming the reference based system and relatively safe and watchful network on the website. I think it really is a brilliant way to see the world. I figured sometimes you have to do crazy things if you really want to get the most out of life. Or just get destroyed in the Venetian Wrestling Ring.

So when I arrived at Massimo's house in Venice the wrestling training began. He taught me moves and techniques that I would later use on my French and Korean opponents. As you could have guessed, I was a less than brilliant wrestler. It probably didn't help that Julien and Jihoon were about 35 pounds heavier than I was, but still. My nickname in the wrestling ring soon became that of my Italian cartoon doppelganger "Dolce Remì," rendering me a non-formidable opponent. Appointed by Massimo, this gives you a bit of an idea of who I was staying with. Massimo is brilliantly uncensored and had strong opinions, which fit perfectly with his wrestler persona. He is a psychological security guard at the international airport in Venice, which means he looks for people who appear nervous and questions them at the airport. I can imagine they only get more nervous when they see Massimo walking towards them.

In 5 years he has hosted over 560 people. His stories of his wrestling matches are incredible. Anyone skeptical can see within five minutes of meeting him that there's no sketchy business here, he just loves teaching people the art of wrestling. No homoerotic or creepy undertones. He is just passionate about wrestling. And it's contagious to be around people who are so into something. I haven't caught wrestling fever, but it is really refreshing to be around people so enthusiastic. Julien cooked us a great dinner and Massimo's house and wrestling matches in Venice are something I won't soon forget.

Then I arrived in Verona. I walked out of the train station and saw a bus that was leaving. Continuing with my technique of taking advantage of the lack of enforcement on public transportation I hoped on, not even sure where it was going. But wherever it was going was where I wanted to be. I like traveling with the mindset of improve as you go. It didn't matter that I had hardly slept the night before and had arrived in a new city alone. What mattered was there was a bus leaving and I could get on it. So I did.

I had in my pocket the address of a girl scribbled on a tiny piece of paper who had written to me the night before saying that I could come stay with her. That was the goal for the day. So when I saw the Roman Colosseum in Verona out the window of the bus I got off. A good starting point. They say "All roads lead to Rome." Now all I needed to do was find the road to this girls house.

After a couple hours of wondering around, asking for directions from people every once in a while, I arrived at the house. When I got there Sarah, the girl who would be hosting me from Couch Surfing, wasn't even home. I was greeted and welcomed into the house by Ruth and Sophie, her two roommates studying in Verona from Britain. It's amazing how you can arrive at a new house in a city halfway across the world from you with people you have never met before and feel like you are at home. When Sarah arrived the feeling only grew. These girls were amazing. The next day Sarah went to Bologna to see a Musical and simply left me the keys to her house and her bike. Like we had been friends for a long time and not just met the night before. I don't think you can find the type of trust anywhere else in the world between strangers that you find in The Couch Surfing Community. It's invigorating. It restores your faith in humanity. There are good people in the world.

So I spent the day riding my bike (Sorry, Sarah's bike) around Verona marveling at the Roman ruins, beautiful Piazza's and Castle walls throughout the city. I couldn't help but wonder if the fate of the two lovers from Verona could have been changed had Romeo borrowed Sarah's bike and made up for lost time.

We had a big dinner at Sophie and Ruth's house that night with their fellow students in Verona. The majority resided in the hands of British girls, but there was also an Irishman there and two people from Arizona. They made delicious Veggie Lasagna and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be staying with these people. I wish I could have stayed longer, Sarah even demanded that I return on Friday for dinner. But as I once heard an Italian traveler say "The road always wins."

I suppose I have my roommate Chase to thank for telling me I had to go to Lake Como, and before that my friend Anna. I am really thankful for these friends of mine were so persistent. Sailing through the Lake on a deserted Boat (well, add one German couple) was one of the high points of the trip. For some reason the weather would clear up right as I arrived at each of my destinations. It was foggy in Venice, there was Thunder and Lightning in Verona and it was raining in Milan and Bellagio when I arrived. But at each place the sun would come out and bring beautiful days with it before I left. I need to write a thank you letter to someone. When I got on the boat the sun came out and drenched the lake, the tiny villages along the shore and the surrounding snow frosted mountains in a soft golden light.

For two hours I sat on the deck of the boat wondering if anyone knew I was here. There are certain moments when you travel alone when you feel, well, completely alone. Like no one in the world is aware or cares about you and your backpack. And this feeling sneaks up on you at the most interesting moments. It could happen when you are meeting interesting people on the road, or standing in crowded Piazzas, or more appropriately, when you are the only one on a boat sailing through Lake Como (minus the aforementioned German couple. But don't ruin this for me.) And It's not always a sad feeling. It sometimes is really nice to feel cut off from the world, and if it was still flat, to feel like your boat could sail right off the edge into nonexistence and no one would know you were gone. You wonder if all the things you dwell on and care so much about will really have any importance one day. When you are alone on a boat, sometimes it's nice to just float along and see where you end up. Maybe it will be a good trip, maybe it will be a bad one. But the fact is it's happening in this moment and it's actual. That's what is important.

And you can't really ask more or expect more than that.

Then I wake up in Milan. There are Italian children sneaking into the lobby of the hostel stealing the pastries from the free continental breakfast. After they attain their prize they run off to God knows where trying (but failing) to suppress their laughter. Their exercised caution is superfluous though, the larger Italian man sitting at the check in counter is fully engulfed in his cigarette and the facebook page of the scantily clad girl he is looking at. I walk up to the counter and give a slight cough. He wheels around and I ask him if I can use his telephone. He asks who I am calling. I tell him my friend in Milan.

"Pronto"
"Ciao this is Remy from Couch Surfing! Is this Olivier?"
"Yes it is, how's it going?"
"Awesome man thanks! I received your message about possibly meeting up for lunch today, I hope it's alright that I called."
"Oh yeah, it's not a problem at all. Where did you say you were?"
"I am at this hostel, I guess it is pretty easy to get to the Cathedral by bus from here."
"Oh ok. Let's meet under the arch of the Galleria, can I will call you back in about an hour or so."
"Oh, actually I don't have a phone, I am calling from the one at my hostel."
"Ok, how about we meet at 12:30. What day is it today?"
"Friday…I think."
"Oh great that means I can host you tonight."
"Oh wow that would be so great! Thank you so much man! I can't wait to get out of this hostel. Can't wait to have lunch with you."
"Ok, I will see you at 12:30 then."
"Va bene. Ciao!"

Olivier is a fashion student in Milan. I couldn't have asked for a better person to stay with in the fashion capital of Italy, if not the world. He had thread strung about the floor of his room and pictures of a man modeling his last suit. It looked really really sleek. He also played piano. Double win for me. He had a book of Terry Richardson's photography on his shelf. I thumbed through the pages depicting Terry and his many particularly raunchy photos of him, other women and men as Olivier played Claire De Lune on the Piano. An unlikely pairing of art, but certainly interesting. I hope one day to save up enough Euros to buy an original Olivier Greene suit. I am sure he will have them, whether or not I will have the money though is the real question.

The next morning I woke up and headed to Pisa. Saw the Leaning Tower, this time in the light of day. Still amazing and still tilted, though slightly warmer than my last visit. Although I was equally as tired. Could have been my delusional sleep deprived state, but I swear I saw Galileo conducting his gravity experiments from the top of the tower.

It could have been a dream though.