Our long term goal is, and always has been, to connect people with shared passions, beliefs, experiences, & interests in person. The mission is to increase access to travel opportunities worldwide by enabling shared hospitality among trusted contacts and communities; providing free or cheap accommodations and cultural experiences not otherwise available.

But….WHY?

As you may know, I read Dave McClure’s “Engineering Minimum Viable Inspiration” post the other day, which he ended with:

Why are we here? Where are we going? What does it all mean?

We believe a more connected travel experience is a better travel experience. Amazing travel experiences start and end with people. You either meet the right person(s) resulting in amazing social interactions, or those individuals send you down the right path with tips, advice, or even an introduction to one of their friends.

We believe finding those people who share your passions, beliefs, and experiences by location is incredibly inefficient at best.

We believe people who explore the world’s vast array of cultures and realize they are a privileged minority live a more fulfilling life than those who don’t. Read this post start to finish if you fail to grasp that you lead a privileged life.

We believe the earlier the broadening of horizons begins in one’s life, the better.

We believe traveling leads people to be better citizens of the global, interconnected world we live in.

We believe the best way to travel – staying with a local – also happens to be the least expensive means to explore the world.

We believe life’s magical moments don’t occur staring at your screen.

We believe true community matters. For many, community is family. For others, it’s a mix of family, friends, and like-minded connections. However you define it, every single one of life’s magical moments originates from community.

We believe enabling community, wherever in the world you may be, is a problem worth spending years solving.

The dream is access to trusted contacts anywhere in the world, which requires organizing communities by location. Once a geo-located trust graph exists, using it to find a place to stay is just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities.

Do you buy into the dream?