I woke up around 9am in the train. It was a longer sleep than I expected. The other passengers were already left. So it was a great chance to sit on the lower berth and enjoy the sightseeing. I saw southern part of Tamil Nadu, flat and green landscape. I remembered also my first train trip from Istanbul to Balkan countries with Balkanflexi almost 11 years ago. Definetely I was more excited that time. It was my first solo backpacking train trip to a foreign country.
Around 15 years ago I joined hospitalityclub, a platform connects the local users who want to provide free accommodation for the traveller. That time I was often hosting or meeting the travelers to show best spots of Istanbul. Couple of years later I joined couchsurfing when I was traveling overseas. I met amazing people and always felt grateful. After airbnb and booking.com invaded our lives. In this trip I have already done my hotel bookings, somehow I never considered surfing on the couches of the locals. Maybe due to security reasons or maybe the need of little comfort in a hotel room. But just before leaving for India, I had a chat with a friend of mine about couchsurfing in India. Suddenly a light appeared in my heart and I realised that being alone in a hotel room is the last thing that I want to experience in India. I want to see the life as real as possible. Two days before my flight I logged in again Couchsurfing and luckily my old account with old references was still alive. And I started to look for local hosts. I knew there were amazing people out there and I was priveleged to be accepted by them. I cancelled my bookings in Madurai and Auroville. My first couchsurfing host in Madurai was Karthik. He offered me picking up from the train station. The generosity of people fascinates me and make me believe that the world need more of these people. This deep grace makes me fearless and I feel alive again each time when I am on the way. Yes maybe traveling is my only way to survive in this collapsed world.
Around 15 years ago I joined hospitalityclub, a platform connects the local users who want to provide free accommodation for the traveller. That time I was often hosting or meeting the travelers to show best spots of Istanbul. Couple of years later I joined couchsurfing when I was traveling overseas. I met amazing people and always felt grateful. After airbnb and booking.com invaded our lives. In this trip I have already done my hotel bookings, somehow I never considered surfing on the couches of the locals. Maybe due to security reasons or maybe the need of little comfort in a hotel room. But just before leaving for India, I had a chat with a friend of mine about couchsurfing in India. Suddenly a light appeared in my heart and I realised that being alone in a hotel room is the last thing that I want to experience in India. I want to see the life as real as possible. Two days before my flight I logged in again Couchsurfing and luckily my old account with old references was still alive. And I started to look for local hosts. I knew there were amazing people out there and I was priveleged to be accepted by them. I cancelled my bookings in Madurai and Auroville. My first couchsurfing host in Madurai was Karthik. He offered me picking up from the train station. The generosity of people fascinates me and make me believe that the world need more of these people. This deep grace makes me fearless and I feel alive again each time when I am on the way. Yes maybe traveling is my only way to survive in this collapsed world.
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