I'm hoping to meet the professional juggler in New Hampshire, or perhaps the glass-blower in Halifax...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but how on earth did we ever survive without the internets? So I'm researching our trip to Canada, and I come across couchsurfing.com, which is a website that connects travelers with traveler-friendly people who don't mind letting you crash on a couch for a few days when you are in their city. In exchange, you let people crash on your couch when they are in your city. When you are traveling, not only can you get some free accommodation, but you also get to meet cool locals who can at the very least give you some tips on what to do and where to go. And when you aren't traveling yourself, every so often you might offer to host a traveler and live vicariously through their adventure, and share whatever your area has to offer. It is a total win-win situation, and I can't believe I've never thought about looking for something like this before. When I was backpacking in Australia, I was treated to some amazing hospitality by virtual strangers. Some I met by luck, some were friends of friends I was introduced through. But in each case I had way more fun meeting them than just staying in another hostel. (well, I had some good hostel experiences too, but don't let me detract from my own argument. lol)

Anyway, so we are very excited about perhaps getting to meet some locals on our trip up to Canada. Yes mom, there are the obvious caveats about staying safe and all that - but from my experience most people in the world are pretty awesome when given the chance, and this seems like such a perfect way to travel. We still bought our camping gear today, because we still think that will be fun, especially in Acadia. But meeting some friendly Canooks (am I spelling that right?) could prove to be a lot of fun. I'm not sure how many of my backpacking buddies read this blog, but if you do, you should go sign up!

In other news, I went on my early morning run yesterday. I walked over to the Capitol Building and ran all the way across to the Lincoln Memorial, then turned around and managed to keep running until I got back to the Washington Monument. I think I ran about three miles, and walked another three. I'm feeling it now, but in a good way. I may only have a few more weeks of night shifts, but I'm definitely gonna make that run again. It was gorgeous out, and I was early enough that I only saw a handful of other runners/walkers. I expected to see more people actually, but I guess it was a Saturday. Probably more people are out during the week before work.