The first time I went Couch Surfing was in New Orleans, when I went to watch my friend play for the New Orleans Saints.

In college I had a roommate, named Mitch, who became a NFL player. I met this guy because we both happened to live with a large family of nine kids who happened to have a really big house. So big, in fact, that they rented out rooms to college students to live in. We were friends, so in October 2018, I finally decided to go see him. But, of course, I wasn’t going to go alone.

Before I had moved into that big house, another guy named Daniel had been living with that family. He wanted to come watch Mitch play too. The second oldest son in that big family, named Ben, who was about my age, also wanted to join in on the adventure. So Ben, Daniel and I took a four day road trip from Northwest Arkansas to New Orleans to watch Mitch play Professional Football. 

Arriving in New Orleans

The plan was that we were gonna drive one day, be in New Orleans for two days, and spend one day driving back. Four days total. We got there Saturday evening around 6pm. It’s a 10 hour drive from Fayetteville to New Orleans, and we had only stopped to eat in Little Rock, so by the time we got there we were pretty hungry. 

Mitch and his wife met with us for dinner. We were catching up over some po boy sandwiches, but they could only be with us for a little bit before they had to go back home to pick up their kids. The three of us, having just arrived in a brand new city, decided to go explore. And what better place to explore in New Orleans than Bourbon Street? 

Bourbon Street is, of course, famous for the wrong reasons, but it is located in the French Quarter, and it is right next to the Mississippi River. We did walk up and down Bourbon St, but we also checked out a Jazz bar, walked along the river and we got some beignets at the world famous Cafe Du Monde. After doing all of that, we decided that it was time for us to go home. 

The First Impression with Couch Surf

At around 11p.m. we started driving towards our hotel. I noticed that we were driving away from the city, and that we were driving for quite a bit. Suddenly there were rough looking buildings all around us and I started wondering where the heck we were going. Ben had the same question too. Daniel had been the one to organize our lodging, so after inquiring we discovered that we didn’t get a hotel, nor did we get an Airbnb. We had gotten something called Couch Surf. 

I had heard about Couch Surf, but I had never tried it. I didn’t know how it worked. I asked Daniel, “So you’ve never met this guy before?” He said “No.” – “How do we know that we can trust this person?” He said “Trust me. I’ve done this before. You’ll see how it works when we get there.” So I said Okay. The deed was done, anyway. Where else were we gonna go? 

We found ourselves passing a place called Melbas Po Boys, and then over a bridge into the Lower Ninth Ward, which is the area that got hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina. We drive for a bit and we turned the corner from the main road into a neighborhood where we started to see dilapidated houses, lots of empty lots, and we were driving through dark streets. In the middle of all of that, we found an old yellow house. 

“This is it.” Daniel announced. “This is the one.” Everything was dark, inside and outside. There was a dumpster right next to the front porch, and there were some brown leather shoes out next to the dumpster. What the heck? What are these shoes doing here? Who left them there and why? They were pretty much brand new, and as a joke, Ben tried them on. Turned out that they fit him perfectly. While that was going on Daniel went to knock on the door. After a bit he signaled for us to go in. 

The Man From Indiana

I remember we entered into a large living space with only one window and an upstairs loft. The whole space was sparsely furnished. There was a small breakfast table, and one couch, but not much else. The inside of the house also was painted yellow and white, and it was lit up by lamps. Standing in the middle of the room was a man of about 65 years of age, with long white hair and long white beard, who was our host. 

I don’t remember our host’s name, but the way that Couch Surf works is based on trust. So he started getting to know us by asking us questions like “So where are you guys from? What brings you down here? Ever been to New Orleans? What do you do? Do you have siblings?” Stuff like that.

As we were chit chatting we started to get to know him. He said that he was from Indiana, and that he moved to New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina. The story that he told us was that he did real estate development in Indiana, but he saw that there was a lot of need in New Orleans, so he decided to sell everything, pack up and head south. 

When he moved to New Orleans, he bought up land in the Lower Ninth Ward, and he used some of those lots that were empty to grow food and to grow crops. And he was using that to feed the local people. He started a fish hatchery in his backyard to sell the fish. He also had bees in his backyard, which he used for honey. How cool is that? 

The Boy From New Jersey

We were having a good conversation, when out of one of the bedrooms, a young stocky guy with long black hair emerged. Our host introduced him to us, and we all exchanged names. I also don’t remember this guy’s name, but I do remember that he told us that he was from New Jersey and that he was half Italian. 

He was working on the shipping boats at the port on the Mississippi. He had done work with fishing rigs in Alaska for some months, and he had just moved to Louisiana to try something new. He told us that he had also found our host through Couch Surf. They had figured out a living arrangement while he got his footing under him. Since we were there for the weekend we ended up seeing him quite a bit during our stay.

Our Short Weekend in New Orleans

Our short weekend was quite eventful. On Sunday morning we went to church with Jenna and Mitch. After church, we got lunch with Jenna only, because Mitch needed to go to work. Then we went to a big park where we ended up renting some bicycles to ride around, and then we found an arboretum. In that same area we walked along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

Later that night we found a coffee shop that was having an open mic night. We decided we would go there to hang out for the night. We went back home to rest for a bit and then we headed out to the coffee shop. The guy from New Jersey ended up joining us, and we chatted and played games until 11at night. 

The next morning we headed out of the city to go do a fan-boat tour on the swamps. We drove about an hour and a half passing bridges and country roads to get far into the swamps. Daniel, Ben, and I, along with a handful of other tourists, were led by our guide Randy, who showed us many things about the swamps, including marshmallow eating alligators. 

I don’t remember all the details of the tour, but I do remember that it was SO COOL! I was mightily impressed and highly satisfied with the experience. I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to go and do one of these tours. It was absolutely worth it. 

Going to Watch The Saints!

Monday was our last day. We were headed back to Arkansas right after the football game ended, on our way back from the swamps we stopped at Melba’s Po Boys for dinner. We went home to change, and to pick up our stuff. We loaded the car, and we thanked our host, bought some of his honey and, eventually, went back to the city to get ready for the game. 

We went to walk around the French Quarter while we waited for the gates to open up. Then we had to park really far away in order to avoid traffic and, of course, the cursed parking fees. As we were walking to the stadium the sky started to get dark. As everybody was waiting in line to enter the stadium it started to rain. Everyone standing in line was a victim. There was no way to hide so by the time we went inside we were completely soaked.

When we got inside, we discovered that the Caesar’s Superdome stadium was air conditioned, meaning, we were freezing the whole time that we were in there. I remember going to the bathroom and standing under the blow dryer just so I could be warm. Still, we were at an NFL game watching our friend play. I wasn’t about to complain here. 

Jenna met us at our seats. She was explaining things on the sideline that only someone with an insider perspective would know. The whole time, both when we were outside, and now that we were in our seats, there was something electric in the air. I could tell there was something really special going on. Well, it turned out that this night was the night that Drew Brees broke the record for the most yards thrown ever. How many people get the chance to see something like this?

After the Game

The Saints won that night. We waited in our seats for a bit for the crowd to clear out. Then, Jenna took us to go see Mitch. We walked into a large room decorated with gray, black and gold hues. There were wait staff dressed in black and white and there was a whole buffet line. 

Apparently this is the room where the football players go to see their families after the games. It was really cool to be there among some superstars. But it was even cooler to be there with my friend. 

After hanging out with Mitch and Jenna for a little bit longer and after loading up on some really good gumbo we had to leave the stadium. We walked back to our car, filled up with gas and spent the next 10 hours driving back to Arkansas. That was my 1st experience doing Couch Surfing. From that moment on, I was hooked. 

Why Couch Surfing Matters

Could we have had a very similar experience if we just stayed at a hotel or AirBnB? Sure. But then I would have missed out on two crucial things. The first was that by staying with our host I learned about the Lower Ninth Ward, which I probably would have never visited, and I heard of our host’s amazing story. The second was that this first experience launched me into all the other great experiences that I’ve had with Couch Surf. 

Couch surfing is how I ended up exploring the West Fjords of Iceland with two strangers. Couch Surfing is how I ended up staying a week in Paris, and, as a huge testimony in my life, Couch Surfing is how I ended up getting a job in Liechtenstein. Couch surfing is not for everyone, but if you want to take the road less traveled, if you’re tired of monotony, and if you want to truly live an adventure, then you must try it. 

I hope this story is encouraging to you. If you know somebody that you think this might be encouraging to as well, go ahead and share it with them!