Sweden Plans

It all started with a "Hen Night" or Bachlorette party in Sweden. I was given the privilege of being the Maid Of Honour for a dear friend who used to live in Trinidad and moved back to Sweden. She was having an insanely glamourous wedding, and I needed to organise a fun filled night of festivities for her and her bridesmaids in Sweden - but remotely from Trinidad!

The bride-to-be and me

So as I had no clue where to start, I of course started searching the internet for any help I could find. I scoured over other blog posts, women who did a similar (albeit not as far) plan for their friends or for themselves...but I was still left at a loss of how to accomplish this crazy task.

I also reached out to people I knew - even the bride to be's husband! I wanted to plan something so special on her behalf with my limited resources. Eventually I reached out to people near me. I was actually working with a few German guys who seems to have done a bit of traveling in Europe so I sought their advice.

They asked me casually, "Do you know of Couchsurfing?" and I immediately had the idea of some crazy Europeans on couches in the ocean trying to catch a good wave. He proceeded to explain to me the concept of people who use a website that allows communication from all over the world, between travelers and locals. Not only could I get advice about a local place and the best things to do, but I could also choose to let people stay with me - all for FREE!

I thought this was an amazing idea...like so cool and hippe/freedom/heal-the-world kind of vibe that I immediately checked it out. It was such an eye opening experience seeing how many members existed all over the world - even in Trinidad and Tobago. It was a great resource of information and the way they set it up allows for people to review their stays with others, on both sides as guests and hosts. I was instantly excited to make our home available for hosting and I tried to discuss that amazing plan with my fiancee, Carlos.

He was not on board. Strangers staying in the house? For free?! Madness.

But I left him there to consider it while I planned the Hen Night for my friend. I finally got the information I needed to make it happen - using a combination of resources I mentioned.

While he was deciding, I left our status on Couchsurfing.com as "accepting guests" so soon after we got a request from a couple - from Chile that seemed pretty cool. They travelled all over South America and seemed really friendly and interesting from their profile and background info! I showed it to Carlos and sold the idea to him until he finally felt comfortable enough to message them!

Rocio y Leo from Chile

After messaging back a forth a bit we finally took the leap of faith and decided to host them! Check out the next post to find out how it went ;)