A “Host” of New Experiences
See what I did there? I’m hilarious.
If you’re travelling across the country by bicycle, I strongly suggest signing up for Warmshowers. If you don’t know, Warmshowers is a community of bicycle enthusiasts who open up their homes to bike travelers. At these homes you can generally find a place to rest (a couch, air mattress or bed), maybe some laundry machines, and (as the name suggests) a place to clean yourself up.
The most important thing you’ll find, however, are people. If you’re incredibly lucky, you’ll encounter people who are quite different from you, but who are warm, caring, and eager to let you momentarily touch their worlds.
That’s what I found when I stayed with Bill and Cassie on their small farm in central Indiana. Bill and Cassie are both in their 60s with six grown children all moved out of their house, but they are still very active. When I got to them, they were getting ready to embark on their own biking adventure in Wyoming for “at least” three weeks! Despite all the busy preparations (Bill had to spend about 2 hours on hold with an airline to make sure they would allow their bikes on the plane), they opened their home to me and graciously allowed me to crash in one of their spare bedrooms.
And what a blast it was! After I got cleaned up from the long day of riding, I got the chance to experience things I’ve never done before. Bill and Cassie keep both cows and chickens on their farm, so we spend about 20 minutes feeding the cows and harvesting eggs, neither of which I had ever done before. I was surprised at how easy Bill made the regular care of these animals seem, and I was even more surprised when one of the smaller cows let me pet him!
After dinner I had the opportunity to be the expert, as I helped Bill change over the tires on the two road bikes he and Cassie were planning to take on their trip. My flat tire incident in Intercourse, PA had the task fresh in my mind, and it was fulfilling to contribute something to the two people who were putting me up for the night.
Work in progress.
During this, Bill and I talked about some things we had in common (we are both into video editing) and some things we didn’t (he’s religious, and I’m not). It was the kind of natural, pleasant, genuine conversation that we need more of in America. The kind of conversation that can’t happen on Twitter, where two people are just trying to understand where the other one is coming from, rather than change their mind, embarrass each other, or just play to the crowd.
Of course, the BEST part of getting to know people who are different from you, is that they might surprise you with something incredibly weird and interesting. After we fixed up the bikes, Bill asked me if I wanted to see something I probably wouldn’t encounter on my trip. Naturally I was intrigued, and it turned out THIS GUY HAD BUILT A TESLA COIL IN HIS SHED! I didn’t know it by name, but I recognized it when he turned it on and it started shooting million-volt electric sparks all over the place! As I stood only about 8 feet away from this thing, I admit being terrified (and also enthralled).
So basically, be open to more interactions with strangers. You might get to experience a whole lot of things you’ve never done before, and they might be fun and terrifying all at once.
