No I won’t talk about Jamiroquai’s Album. I want to talk about one of the best communities I discovered in London. The Couchsurfers.

Let’s be honest! What do young travellers need when they discover the world? I’ll give you the answer: A place where to spend the night (not even a bed if you have a sleeping bag) with the option of having a nice shower and change, a safe place where to leave the heavy backpacks during the day and, of course, a guide (usually a book) to tell you where to go and what to avoid (I’m used to buy the lonely planet).

How many times you take a room in a hotel and you pay an entire 24 hours for just a nap of few hours. Also, guide books are usually subjective and written by tourists without giving a local taste or vision of the area visited. What if you have a full list of local contacts you can trust and who might host you or at least meet you to give you the right tips/directions around a cup of local tea/drink.

The best solution I found for this was the couchsurfing.com website. Even with the fact that I wasn’t able to host people, I was invited to many picnics/partys/BBQs in many parks/houses in London and I met a variety of people (hosts, travellers or intruders like me). I remember also the London Calling where during one weekend I was able to meet “theoretically” a couple of hundreds of people not fearing the rain or late buses. It was amazing. All these people gave me enough confidence to start “couchsurfing” and hosting people and all my hosts and guests were so nice and very friendly.

From a southern perspective, I see this community also a good opportunity for Africans to meet travellers, learn about other cultures and improve foreign languages without having to struggle with travel expenses and visa restrictions. That’s what I call travelling without moving.

Come on guys (and girls): Join the community www.couchsurfing.com

PS: if you live in Tunisia, don’t forget to join also Tunisia Group and check out local events/meetings I’m willing to organise.