So I have to give a shout out to Gage and Jen Mitchell (The Stewchells – Living Spree blog on the left) for their courage and dedication to making their dreams come true. About six months ago they sold everything except what would fit in their backpacks and embarked on a mission to travel the world. They’re still going. Somewhere along the way they introduced me to CouchSurfing.com, but it took me a while to wake up and put myself out there. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful and lifelong relationship — pushing my own comfort zone and opening myself up to what the world and it’s people have to show me.

So, this is part one. I’ll call it “The Players”. Lot’s to say (as usual, I know), so I’ll try to restrain myself from rambling. Forgive me though, because this was simply one of the best, most eye-opening spontaneous excursions in my life so far. So there’s definitely more in my mind than I can give justice to in words.

So, the background is that I decided to get on CouchSurfing.com which is a worldwide network of people willing to stay on someone’s couch or allow someone to stay on their couch while they travel. Essentially, it’s a lot cheaper to travel when you don’t have to pay for a room, and you’re given the opportunity to meet people from every walk of life and actually taste culture from a family member point of view as opposed to that of a tourist in a hotel room. I decided about two weeks ago to email Tess and see if I could come down and crash sometime in the next month or so, and it ended up being much sooner. She was game, so after a couple emails and a phone call, I was off Friday night after work for a four hour drive to Savannah. Enter the players:

Tess – “The Free-Spirit”

Tess is quietly energetic and filled with life and a desire to live in the moment. She is full of free-thinking, smiles, wonder, sexuality, passion, compassion and reckless abandon. She loves to travel and has hosted some 70+ surfers this past year. She recently backpacked across Europe over the course of a month with little more than $150 and her love, Eric, by her side. She also loves her children, the animals she rescues. Her supporting cast are three pit-bull mixes: Tora, Roman and Eugene. Two Cats: Gargoyle and Skye. Two Birds: Milo and Micheal. And a leopard gecko, Opium. Micheal’s on her head and Milo’s on his cage above. I believe these two and at least one of the dogs were rescues from hurricane Katrina. Gargoyle is on the left and Skye on the right below, if I remember correctly.

Below, Tora (brindled) and Roman “play”, and Eugene waits patiently at the door for his turn to go out. Yes, Roman and Eugene look like brothers, but they’re actually not related! (By the way, please forgive, since many of these photos were taken on my iPhone, so they’re pretty grainy and sometimes blurry.)

Fletcher – “The Gentle Man”

Fletcher is sophisticated and astute. He’s fairly soft-spoken until fueled by a few drinks. He’s 24 and in med school, teaches Jujitsu (I believe it was Jujitsu) which he’s practiced for some nine years. A Rainbow Martini or a Stella Artois might be his drink of choice.

Felicia – “The Soft-Spoken”

Felicia is one of Tess’ best friends and a fellow Couch Surfer and host. She was immediately accepting and hospitable, but at the same time somewhat quiet and reserved. She was also hosting this weekend; Shane who had cycled in 160 miles from Jacksonville, Florida over about 16 hours that day. (Rainbow Martini works for her too.)

Shane – “The Mellow”

Shane (below left) decided back in February to take off with a friend from Florida and cycle where the road takes them. I believe he’s landed a few times, but for the most part he’s been on the road. He’s hard to pin at first, but he’s very chill and gentle with a bit of a philosophical view. Kinda looks a lot like the world’s interpretation of Jesus too. Long brown hair, green and blue eyes with a beard. Interesting. Shane’s good with a PBR.

Cecilia – “The Mischievous”

Cecilia was the questionable one, since she didn’t actually join the group until Saturday night, well after we were all terribly comfortable with each other. To be honest we were figuring that we were going to freak her out since we were all such good friends by that time. Our plan was to all strip down and be hanging around nudist style when she came in. We didn’t, but she pretty much told us that wouldn’t have phased her. It was then that we knew she would fit right in! She’s calm and calculated and seems to have some mischievous plans formulating in her head at all times. Some time back she sold all of her things and cycled from San Diego to Washington DC over a two and a half month period. Now she’s thinking of setting up camp in Savannah.

OK! Well, you’ve been introduced to the players. Tomorrow, you’ll get a quick rundown of my first night in Savannah. From the moment I arrived to the time we fell asleep (can also be read “passed out”), there were only about six hours involved, but we packed a lot into those six hours!

To be continued…