Young Travel in South America: Accommodation

Backpacking is a becoming a popular activity among North Americans and Europeans. Simply, packing up your bag with a one way plane ticket and some cash for trains seems to be the new adrenaline rush. This is most popularly seen throughout Europe and Southeast Asia however, South America accepts this type of tourism with open arms as it has become partners with programs such as CouchSurfing and WWOOF(World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). But is often over looked, here you can find alternative methods of travel that save you money and allow you to indulge fully into this new culture.                      
           CouchSurfing is becoming a huge role in young tourism redefining the means of travel. Established in 1999, you simply log onto the website (www.couchsurfing.org) as a surf or host. Surf being a person looking for accommodations, and host being the person willing to host the surf - simple right? The sign up and profile building may seem tedious but the rewards are worth it, you experience a country in a whole new way and ideally make friends across the globe. With that, you also save yourself the costly hotel/motel fee's and expensive resteraunt food prices that don't give you half the authenticity as a home cooked meal.  However, CouchSurfing is prepared for the apprehensive as well as it seems like a very risky way of travel; you are ideally having to trust someone in a foreign country with putting a roof over your head and food in your belly before even meeting with them in person. With that, they have a testimonials page dedicated to those who want to research how safe or how rewarding the experience was for people who have hosted and surfed (visit www.couchsurfing.org/testimonials.html). If you are still a little bit "iffy" you can simply googling "CouchSurfing experiences" and read the many blogs that talk about their person experience. All in all, CouchSurfing if given the chance is a much more rewarding expierence for those willing to take the small risks associated and welcome a country in with open arms and a open heart. 
            WWOOFing is more for the “giving-back” person looking for a really rewarding experience and more hard work per say. WWOOFSouthAmerica is a part of a world wide effort to promote the concept of organic farming, sustainable agriculture and responsible consumer habits. Member farms offer daily chores for a length of time to tourists (typically a week) where you part take in chores such as harvesting, preparing soil for planting, milking, maintaining, etc. Each farm has its own schedules and chores but you reap the rewards. You become more environmentally aware, help out the local community, and meet fellow travellers whilst having a place to stay, eat and obtain enough money to take a train to your next destination. WWOOF is an international affiliated association to get more information visit (www.wwoof.org).          
           Of course there is always the option of staying in hostels which are offered all over South America as it is the most popular option, or even cheap motels or hotels. Accommodation choice is all up to comfort level and how much you want to take from your travels.  With CouchSurfing and WWOOF you attain a more cultural experience with personal rewards.