Host, Not Guest
This is slightly anticlimactic, but for a few months, it looked like the tables had turned. While I usually stay with friends and members of the Company of Friends when I travel, this week I was slated to serve as a host. I met Gonzalo Bedia Diaz, a 24 year old from Spain who's moving to Boston to work at the Eliot Hotel, online through Global Freeloaders, the "worldwide free accomodation network." GF is similar to the now-defunct Crash Network; members offer to host traveling members in exchange for being able to approach others as a guest as they travel.

This was going to be my first time hosting someone through a network like this, but I received an email from Gonzalo on Sunday indicating that he didn't need to stay with me tomorrow and Thursday night as we'd previously arranged. He'd been able to book a room somewhere for a month and didn't need my assistance in the interim. Gonzalo's email brought an odd feeling of relief -- I don't have to tidy up my cluttered apartment now -- as well as disappointment -- I was really looking forward to hosting someone through GF.

We're still planning on meeting once he's in the Boston area. If you travel frequently, you should check out GF. It might be useful.