Adventures In Inflatable Sofas

Below is the story of a traveller that gets more use out of his inflatable sofa more than anyone we've ever met. Jim Stone travels the world armed with a digital camera and his red inflatable sofa. Be sure to read Jim's biography below and check out his website: FlipTopHead.com.

"In December 2001 I graduated with a degree in Communication Studies from the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. Soon after college I went out to find my career. No luck. I hated everything. I was unable to fit in to the typical 'settle for some stupid job that you hate in order to pay off the 5-digit debt accumulated through the spend-till-you-die lifestyle' way of life. I just couldn't do it. Just a few months later I packed everything I didn't give or throw away into storage and left to see the world that I had been missing.

As of March 24, 2004 I am roaming around the world. So far I've been traveling almost non-stop with no end in sight. My plan is not to have a plan. I want to see the world and go wherever my travels lead me. In the beginning I assumed I would travel for a bit, have some fun, get my fill, and then move on to something more socially acceptably productive. It didn't take long to find that this assumption was way off the mark.

Throughout my time on the road I have been going from city to city in country after country, often by hitching, and staying with people I meet along the way and through hospitality exchange sites such as CouchSurfing.com. Through this mode of travel I've been able to meet hundreds of different people and experience worlds of cultures I might never have been exposed to otherwise. So far I've met and stayed with over 70 different people in more than a dozen countries.

But I'm not finished. I want to experience people, cultures, and worlds I've never even heard of. I'm traveling through the USA on the back of a motorcycle, stopping in all 48 lower states with a very photogenic and nomadic inflatable red couch. I plan on seeing all 50 within a year, sleeping on a couch in every state. I'm rediscovering my own country and the people within it. After seeing so many other countries I'm here to experience every corner of my own.

I'm traveling with my own couch while staying on the couches of strangers all across the country through CouchSurfing or anyone else who wants to open their doors (and their couches) to a stranger with a few stories to tell. I want to meet different people from all walks of life."