I spent last weekend in Hawaii for a medical school conference. Our hotel was in Waikiki, which as you may know, is very touristy and pretty much a concrete jungle. Luckily, thanks to Couch Surfing, my friend Ariel had an amazing day of adventures with a Brady, a guy who lives on the island.
Brady owns a polymer water bead company. The beads he sells are amazing! They start out the size of seed beads and then swell up with water that they slowly release it to water plants over several weeks. Plus they feel crazy, like slippery jellyfish. Thanks to Brady, we were able to see a lot of awesome island highlights and escape the tourist kerfuffle.
We started out the day with a hike on Mariner’s ridge. For about 30 minutes of climbing, we were rewarded with several spectacular views of Oahu. It was nice to be surrounded by nature. The plant is the top right corner of the picture below is actually peppercorns! We could pull the little red berries off the tree and there was a little peppercorn inside each one.
Have you every couch surfed? I’ve done it all over the world, even in places like Dubai and Greece, and I’ve had amazing experiences! Pat and I have also hosted Couch Surfers from all over. I cannot say enough nice things about the website. As with anything, you should use common sense when booking a couch. Meet in a public place and only stay with someone who is verified and who was excellent references! Don’t be afraid to cancel an experience if you have a gut feeling that something “isn’t quite right.”
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