Craigslist Joe

This might seem a little random (yet again) but it's not, actually. See, Craigslist Joe is a documentary about this guy named Joe (shocker, right?) and his crazy idea of living with nothing more than what he can find on craigslist postings and the clothes on his back (and his laptop and smartphone to keep up with craigslist...) He traveled all through the States just by responding to posts on Craigslist and had a cameraman follow him to put it all on tape. Man, that guy had some serious stories to tell!

Oh, yeah, I should probably mention how I stumbled over the documentary. Alex suggested it. Back when I was staying in Walnut Creek with Melinda. So we all decided to watch it together on Sunday. And we were all equally blown away. Like I said, Joe had some fun stories to tell (and rode with some very questionable vehicles :) ) He did get stranded once or twice, but, overall, he had an amazing trip and found friendship and hospitality in all kinds of places. It was funny to watch this while I myself was surfing on Melinda's couch (which wasn't a couch but an unbelievably comfortable bed...) Not that I am anywhere near as crazy as Joe, but I definitely get where he's coming from and I agree. There are a lot of amazing people out there.

The main reason why I bring up this documentary now is my recent experience with my hosts in Hawai'i. They are not from couchsurfing. I've contacted what felt like a gazillion couchsurfers and nobody had a couch for me. Then I came to Walnut Creek and Paolo tells me, he lived in Hawai'i for a while and has lots of friends over there. (Again, with the coincidences...) So he contacted some people and by the time I left on Monday, I had two cell phone numbers and the matching names. That was it...

So, before I flew to Hawai'i, I messaged Darellyn and asked her if it was really ok for me to stay with them. She said yes and gave me their adress. But I was in Honolulu and they live in Malilani and I had no idea how to get there. So she told me to contact Steve who might be able to pick me up. Sure enough, half an hour later, I was sitting in a pick-up truck with yet another stranger on my way to their home... (Don't try this one at home kids ;) )

Sure, you can say, that's crazy and god knows what could have happened, yada yada. So, here's what happened. I'm in Hawai'i, I'm staying with a beautiful, generous and very friendly family and their dog in their cozy house in Mililani, Steve gave me a ride to Waikiki on Thursday and Darellyn took me back home with her and today, we spent the entire day exploring the island together. We had some local food, they cook for me, tonight I will cook for them and they even offered to drive me back to the airport on Sunday morning.

There are some amazing people out there! Maybe it's time to get to know them....

Here's more about that documentary