I think that hotel rooms aren't always the best way to explore the area or to understand the local culture. And if you are lucky, you meet people on CS who you become lifelong friends with.

I went alone on a yoga tour for 7 days where I had to sleep in a tent in a wild forest. I'd never even spent a night not on a bed before that in my life. So I watched a couple of videos on Youtube on how to put up a tent and I looked like a pro when I got to the forest and had to do that myself. In July-August 2015 I went hitchhiking in the Caucasus alone for 30 days. It was my first hitchhiking experience ever. I even went to Chechnya twice, which is believed be to the most dangerious place in Russia. I did it to break all stereotypes that we have about the Caucasians.