Pagi tadi bila datang kerja aku ikut jalan lama Jimat Rm3.00. Sekarang aku tengah usaha nak jimat sejimatnya dan simpan duit untuk percutian seterusnya. Aku dah pokai habis bulan nie. Balik dari Beijing hari tu aku gatal2 pegi beli sling bag Levi's ngan tshirt Armani Exchange. Kat situ dah RM 140.00. Bila masuk keje si Kay bagitau yang laptop aku dah repair, kena caj RM 600.00. Adusss....tepuk dahi kejap. Aku bayar kan si Kay RM 200 dulu, sebab dia bagitau bayar sikit2. Ok la jugak kan..buat nya dia nak lumpsum..mati jugak la. 8hb tu umie ajak pegi kenduri rumah kawan dia kat Teluk Intan...masa tu naik 3 orang, tayar belakang sebelah kiri tu dah rasa lain macam aja..apak suh aku cek jugak besoknya. So, hari isnin suruh abang jai pegi workshop cek kan tayar. Rupanya dah berbonjol keluar dan benang pun dah nampak. Alhamdullilah la masa jalan hari tu tak jadi pape kan..bawak pun laju semacam. Lepas tu tukar tayar sebelah aje..RM 130.00. Memang bengkok...Pagi tadi aku pow duit apak RM50.00. Semalam pegi amik adik kat Stesen Ketapi Ipoh, kena isi minyak dengan tol...bayar dengan duit seringit2 yang aku dok simpan 1 gulung tu. Duit tu sesaja aje simpan...tak sangka time darurat gini buleh gak guna..Minah kaunter minyak tu dok pandang dan kena kira singgit2 ...hahaha..lantak nko la. Duit syiling ada dalam RM100, tapi tak sempat lagi nak tukar kan..

Pagi tadi bukak CS dan ada inbox message. Bila bukak tengok ada mamat lithuania nie hantar message mintak tolong carikan rumah sewa untuk 2 bulan range RM300 - RM400. Minggu lepas masa ambil makanan jamuan kat Kamunting jumpa dengan couple mat saleh naik persona berhenti kat kedai tu jugak. Ingat dia sesat atau nak pegi beli makanan tengahari...Bila baca message ni, baru teringat..ini la mat saleh yang aku terserempak minggu lepas. Dia tinggal kan no phone dan aku terus SMS dia. Bila dia balas balik, rupanya dah jumpa rumah tapi di Ipoh. Ok  la tu...memang terror betul kan mat saleh nie..buleh hidup kat mana2 aje..Dia baru pindah dari Varkala, India setelah 6 bulan duduk kat situ. Mat saleh nie jual dadah atau ada kongsi gelap??? mana dia dapat duit?? dia dah 4-5 tahun merantau.. Memang setengah negara ada bagi allowance untuk rakyat yang tak dapat pekerjaan..tapi tak kan sampai 4-5 tahun pun buleh dapat..emm, entah la..

Short Story About Us

Katja Lachmann

German (www.travelpunki.com)

Very soon after the beginning of my studies Industrial Engineering and Innovation Management in Berlin, Germany (I graduated 2005) I became a member of AEGEE (European Student Association). During my first AEGEE-Event abroad (The Netherlands, 2001) I got the “travel bug” and was for a few years involved in a lot of AEGEE acitivities all around Europe. When I was studying, working and living in Spain (2003-2004) I certainly knew what I want: a trip without time limits and no routes planned in advance. While I was looking forward to finish my studies for being “free like a bird in the sky”, I did some creative work and made a trip through Southern Africa for 3 months in 2004.

Augustas Kligys

Lithuanian (www.kligys.com)

I hold M.Sc. degree in Computer Science from Aalborg University in Denmark.
Theoreticaly, or… according to the “common sense”, I should have been a computer professional and travelling should have been my hobby.

Finally, I am glad computers to become my hobby, and travelling to be my biggest passion in the life. Since 1997, when I joined Vilnius Hitch-hiking Club, I was very often on the road. After many years of exploring European countries, I was starving for something new… And that was China in 2002, right after getting my M.Sc. degree. Two years later I have hitch-hiked through East Africa and did voluntary work in South Africa, totally spending half a year on this continent.

In 2010 I started new episode of my life. I got interested in spirituality, and this brought me so much understanding about the life and how easy is to enjoy every moment of it. I believe the past and the future does not exists. There is only NOW, and living it makes you very happy 

Meeting

How did we meet? Well… the story was simple. Augustas and his friend, they were travelling around Spain in summer 2003. Before arriving to Zaragoza, where Katja used to study, they contacted her through theHospitality Club – the free accommodation website for travelers. After staying 3 days at Katja’s place, we offered her to join the trip to Rainbow Gathering, which at that time was located in the Pyrenees mountains – South of France…

Couch Surfing

Memula tahu pasal Couch Surfing nie dari Jaja...dia dikenalkan oleh kawan dia pulak. Dari luar rasa memang seronok la....tapi bila baca thread dari Vietnam (Hue) bagaimana CS dari China dikenakan oleh sekumpulan CS di Hue, memang terlalu banyak keburukan CS nie. Mungkin dari mata pemula CS nie, nak melihat kebaikan dan menyatukan semua orang. Kalau kena orang yang baik memang bagus..tapi kebanyakan orang yang baik nie pulak selalu diambil kesempatan oleh CS yang jahat. Ada beberapa jenis CS, ada yang sengkek...makna, nak duduk lama kat tempat tu secara percuma..tapi siapa yang tahan. Selalu mat saleh la perangai buruk macam tu. Depa nie, boleh bagi semua yang ada pada depa...makna SEX la...for free. Tapi sebagai balasan, orang tu kena la bagi tinggal percuma dan selalu end up depa mesti buat taik punye. Dah banyak thread yang aku baca, macam jenis manusia. Tapi yang paling bagus e-mail2 tu ialah tips - mana tempat nak pegi, nak makan, nak tido...bila time elok pegi..dan mcm2.

The CouchSurfing Project is the largest hospitality exchange network, with over 1.75 million member in 237 countries and territories. According to Alexa it is currently the most visited hospitality service on the Internet, averaging around 40 million daily page views July - December 2009.

How it works

After registering, which is free, member have the option of providing very detailed information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accommodation they offer, if any. More information provided by a member, and other members improves the chances that someone will find the member trustworthy enough to be their host or guest. Security is often measured in the reference established by networking. Volunteers may verify names and addresses. Members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location, gender and activity level. Home stays are entirely consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature and terms of the guest's stay are generally worked out in advance to the convenience of both parties. No monetary exchange takes place except for compensation of incurred expenses (e.g. food). After using the service, members can leave a noticeable reference about host or guest.

Instead of or in addition to accommodation, members also offer to provide guide services or travel related advice. CouchSurfing provides editable travel guides and forums where members may seek travel partners or advice. CouchSurfing's main focus is "social networking" and members organize activites such as camping trips, bar crawls, meetings, and sporting events.

Their website features a searchable database of hundreds of upcoming events organized by CouchSurfing members, including the annual "Berlin Beach Camp" which draws over 1,000 attendees, the annual "WinterCamp", and a New Year's Eve party hosted in a different city in Europe every year.

Security Verification

Security verification

There are three methods to ensure security and trust, which are all visible on member profiles for potential host and surfers to see prior to arranging anything with each other:

1. Personal references, which hots and surfers have the option to leave after having used the service.

2. An optional credit card verification system, allowing members to "lock in" their name and address by making a credit card payment and entering a code that Couch Surfing mails to the billing address. This also allows CS to recuperate some costs by requiring a fee for verification. For fairness the verification fee is base on a sliding scale, taking into account the the Purchasing Power Parity and Human Development Index of the country of residence.

3. A personal vouching system, whereby a member that had been vouched for - originally starting with the founders of the site - might in turn vouch for any number of other members he or she knew or had met through CouchSurfing, and trusts.

History

Casey Fenton

The CouchSurfing project was originally conceived by Casey Fenton in 1999. Accoring to Fenton's own account, the idea arose after finding an inexpensive flight from Boston to Iceland. Rather than stay at a hostel, Fenton randomly e-mailed 1,500 students from the University of Iceland asking if he could stay. Fenton ultimately received more than 50 offer of accommodation. On the return flight to Boston, he began to develop the ideas that would underpin the CouchSurfing project.

Mission

The mission statement of CouchSurfing is Create Inspiring Experiences : "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding. As a community we strive to do out individual and collective parts to create a better world, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!".