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Couchsurfing: the Musical charts both a physical and psychological journey as author explores the fast-growing travel phenomenon of Couchsurfing. Middle-aged and set in his ways, he starts as a skeptic. Who would want to spend the night in the home of a complete stranger? While knocking on the doors of thirty-five of these strangers across nine countries, starting in Tel Aviv and ending in Boston, he realizes that he would, and maybe he’ll not only save money, but find himself changed for the better by the experience. Balancing the forward motion of his Couchsurfing adventures are glimpses back into the past, seen through the quirky lens of musicals that have played a part in his life.
Not your typical travelogue, or a collection of suggestions about how to maximize the convenience of lodging for free in a multitude of countries. Instead, an insightful journey along a parade of colorful characters, the hosts and some of the guests of the many localities Gary had visited as frugal, yet generous traveler. And through them the reader, captivated by the light-hearted narration interspersed with keen observations on cultures and interpersonal interactions, soon realizes that the binocular of the thrift tourist has become a powerful tool to inspect the most surprising and intriguing of all destinations, human psychology. As we meet a new host in a different state or country, we soon realize how much in common we have, and yet unique each of us is, regardless of religious upbringing or political convictions. Although some of localities touched by Gary are notorious touristy destinations, he willfully resists the magnetic pull of the main sights, preferring quieter corners from where to observe life as it unfolds in front of him, if not even staying at his host’s home. His reluctance to be sucked in the typical tourist traps allows him and the reader to redirect the focus to those softer, less defined, and more unpredictable moments in space and time that ultimately shape our experience as traveler. In a way, by partaking his couchsurfing adventures with us, the author opens the door to a mindful presence in a particular place at a time that feels suspended, unchained from the frenzy thirst for virtual connectedness, a malady of nowadays. Telling are the instances where he risks not being able to communicate to his next host, because of technology constraints, yet he always manages to eventually find them. How refreshing that no financial transactions are ever involved in the couchsurfing set of rules and etiquette, an uplifting contrast to the hypocrisy of the values touted by the so called “sharing” or “gig” economy titans of today. As I came to the final paragraphs of this enjoyable tales of travel, alternating with memories of the author’s favorite musicals, I felt the urgency to follow suit, and resolved to inject more curiosity and adventure in any of my future trips, be it a few miles from home or to the other side of the planet. Always with the intent to curb our environmental impact, while opening the mind to new human connections.
