I love staying in Youth Hostels. But when you stay with the residents of a town (as I did in DC) is easier to unxderstand life from the perspective of a local person. I really hadn't planned to stay with a local resident, it had just happened by chance (see my previous blog 'The Serendipity of Travel'). But I was so glad to be staying in the place I was.

I have quite a lot of experience of sharing houses (Earlier in my career I lived and worked in Bristol and then London in the UK, where property is relatively expensive, so I often lodged or shared houses.). But in my experience, and in the UK these houses are normally composed of people in their twenties and thities. The great thing about the house in which I was staying was that the housemates were so diverse in terms of their ages, interests and backgrounds. It was a very stimulating place to live. Whenever people were in, the conversation was great.

I suppose that an alternative way to experience what I did in DC, would be to use the website http://www.couchsurfing.org/ . I've never used this for travelling so far, but I am intrigued by the notion. Hopefully I can try it sometimes. In principal I think that the website can put you in touch with people in various parts of the world who would be happy to host you for a few days. I want to try it out some day.

When you stay in youth hostels there are often many posters and leaflets advertising attractions in the town in which you are staying. There are often (at least in the USA) even organised trips of one sort or another, starting in the youth hostel . But what is more difficult to do is to get a feeling for what local the local inhabitants of your town are doing. And - again please forgive me for stating the obvious - the best way to do that is to actually be amongst the local inhabitants.

Like many people in DC, many of the people who lived in the same house as me were involved in politics in one way or another. And they were the sort of people who attended political events. One of them is the director of a grass-roots political movement, aimed at redefining the American flag, and renewing democracy in the process. During the week or so that I lived in that house the residents were attending various political meetings of one sort or another.

They asked me if I wanted to come along to a meeting in the National Press Club in DC, which was organised by Citizens in Charge Foundation and entitled "Government Reform at the Hands of the People: A Citizen's Forum". I was intrigued and certainly wanted to join them, if only just to see the National Press Club.

I attended the first session which was a series of presentations by a series of eminent polical commentators and campaigners from across the political spectrum, including the veteran former senator, Mike Gravel. Some of the people in my house clearly new the former senator well and I was duly introduced to him. Mike Gravel has had a wide range of jobs from being a taxi driver in New York City to a United States Senator and during his time as Senator went to court (Gravel vs U.S) which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision relative to the Speech and Debate Clause (Article 1, Section 6) of the United States Constitution.

It's fascinating to meet people like that, and I suppose my point is that whilst staying in Youth Hostels is great, sometimes you get a deeper insight into places and the people that live there if you stay with local residents.