The Academy of Free Travel (AFT) sounds vaguely Casa-esque, but more temporary and exclusively for hitchhikers. Apparently they have set up hitchhiker houses (in the past) in 3 Russian cities, Kyrgistan, Tajikistan, and Egypt. I hear the next one is to be in Tbilisi, Georgia. An English AFT page is here, with links to other pages in Russian, and a CouchSurfing thread is here, including a couple people who have stayed at AFT houses.
Hugs!
~George
Comments
Robino, I don't understand
Robino, I don't understand what's so outrageous about Krotov's list. There's no dumpster-diving tradition in Krotov's circle, so to keep everyone fed there's got to be a list of cheap food items that people know they should purchase if supplies are running low. The stuff in that list is the bare minimum to keep a human being from starvation.
Krotov's list of rules is written in a faux-bureaucratic tone. It's supposed to be somewhat funny, but perhaps that comes across more in the original than in my translation.
Ah, that sounds better
Ah, that sounds better already Christopher. I think that if the list of supplies and other 'rules' have a humoristic undertone, then it has certainly worked in putting me in the confused box!
But one doesn't really need sugar to survive would you? Or maybe Heather thinks differently about that... ;-) Or maybe because it is not a serious item, it is listed twice, on the top of the list as well as on the bottom.
Other than that I really admire the houses that have been set up, it is a great concept and great way of bringing travelers together in these collective house. And I also think it is great to hear how it has worked for so many people.
But still, also reading Krotov CS-profile for his own house, it is full with rules that really wouldn't fit in a casa-environment. It is not shared rules or guidelines to make things work for everyone in the truest sense but more like top-down centered rules to which people *should* comply.
more info
yep - there are some similarities for sure, and it's funny to know this has been going on for such a long time already.
See also Christopher's posts on nomadbase
http://nomadbase.org/blog/crculver/2010/02/20/krotovs-nomad-bases
Krotov who started the houses surely likes rules though. If the following would have been posted here at casa, I think most people here would think it a joke: http://nomadbase.org/blog/crculver/2010/09/03/essential-items-krotovs-no...
Regulation on Essential Items.
* Sugar (in powder or cube form), at least 1 kg
* Tea (black or green) in powder form, at least 100 g
* Bread, at least two rolls
* Toilet paper, at least 2 rolls
* Soap (for bathing and for laundry), at least 2 bars
* Ordinary tap water, poured into buckets
* Buckwheat, at least 1 kg
* Peas, at least 1 kg
* Vegetable oil
* Sugar
Each and every person, including you who are reading these lines, as soon as he or she notices the absence or insufficiency of one or more of these strategic items -- provided that such was discovered during daytime hours (7 o'clock a.m. to 9 o'clock p.m.) --- must immediately proceed to the closest shop and procure the missing items. In the event that the lack was discovered during the night, or if the person noticing the lack is indigent (a person having less than ten dollars in cash) that person must notify all inhabitants of the house, with the exception of those asleep, and organize the purchase of these items through communal effort.