Saturday, June 11, 2005
Epilogue
As I'm writing this I notice my clothes fit a lot looser than they used to. In fact, I lost ten pounds on this trip. Being on my feet constantly and eating small meals was the simple but effective cause. This is definitely the most expensive diet I've ever been on.
This trip was my first experience traveling alone outside the States. It far surpassed anything I could have imagined. I liked traveling solo because I was able to cover a lot of ground and complete my daily agenda with plenty of time to spare. I found that by being alone, I was much more willing to reach out to people I didn't know than had I been traveling with others. For the natives' part, I think they were receptive to helping a stranger in their land. It would have been nice to have some company to talk to during the sightseeing, but at night I would meet fellow travelers with whom I could share my experiences.
The greatest aspect of this journey was having the opportunity to meet and interact meaningfully with locals. Through many conversations with my hosts and others I met along the way, I got to learn much, much more about the local culture and society than the typical tourist. I hope that my new friends, who asked just as many questions of me as I of them, learned a lot about America and gained a positive impression about its people from this impromptu ambassador. I have to thank the founders of CouchSurfing for this extraordinary exchange.
I would like to return to this part of the world someday. There are a lot of sights, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, that I didn't get to visit. I would also like to see the wonderful people that took time out of their busy schedules to make possible my marvelous time in their hometowns. At the least, I will try to keep in touch with them. (I'm doing a good job so far.) I hope that one day they will visit the San Francisco Bay Area so that I can return the favor.
