I first learned about couchsurfing a few years ago when I was scanning gumtree for potential sublet opportunities. It struck me as an irresponsible thing to consider — a breeding ground for potential kidnappers and rapists. I immediately dismissed the idea and went on living my life, pining away all the while with desire to one day venture to Australia. Two years go by. I’ve finally purchased the plane ticket to Sydney and everyone in close proximity to me is freaking out. My mother suggests, “You should look into finding a friend down there to show you around.” I suddenly  remembered the idea of couchsurfing,  and forgetting my previous notions, it struck me as a brilliant idea. I joined the official CS website and attended a local CS meeting and started sending out requests. That’s how I found Jim. I was slow to send requests to guys at first simply due to the solo-girl-in-a-new-continent fact and the safety considerations that come with it, but he had the highest praise out of other Sydney hosts, including the thumbs up from multiple female travellers, so I figured I’d be in good hands. I arrived in Sydney, stayed in a hostel the first few nights, and met up with Jim on my second evening. I met a bunch of his friends, another couchsurfer, and we headed out to a rugby game. In my short two days that I couchsurfed with Jim, he took me to the fish market, South Head, and Bondi Beach, I met Melissa and Raquel, and we spent Easter together (in the form of a pub crawl – ssh). I then left Sydney and did a small tour of Australia, including Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. But I got along so well with Jim, Raquel, and Melissa that I decided to pay them another visit before heading to New Zealand (plus Switchfoot was playing a show in Sydney…) Anyway. I stayed with Jim for another 5 days and hung out a great deal with Raquel during that time. I also had a firsthand celebration of ANZAC day as Sam and Jim are in the Australian Navy. And, finally, I left Sydney and moved on to New Zealand. I’ve been back in the US for almost three months. In that time, I’ve stayed in pretty good contact with...