I'm turning into a bona fide hippie!

Change. It comes in many different variations. For some, it's putting on new underwear and brushing off last night's plaque. For others, it's shaving off hair, retiring panties, and adopting an exotic accent, a la Britney Spears.

For me, change consists of trying out different perspectives on life and how best to go about living it. I submit to you three options that I've been considering:

1) Freeganism. According to its website, the definition of a freegan is as follows :"Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed. "

What does this really mean? Freegans are philanthropic freeloaders. They spend as little money as possible, recycle the hell out of everything, and are generally very creative in how to have a good time. (See: Dumpster Diving for an example of all three.)

Even Oprah's getting in on this, and with the country's economy the way it is, it's no wonder! I was gonna partake in a meeting at Columbia University tonight, but instead I'm dealing with phone calls from lawyers in Asia. Go figure.

2) Pescatarianism. I've officially been a Pescatarian for... um... I think, four days - and already I feel so much better. Friends have asked if it's a stepping stone to vegetarianism or veganism - and no, it's most definitely not.

About a week ago, my dad went to Burger King. I asked for a chicken sandwich, and when dear old dad came home he realized he'd forgotten to buy mom a sandwich (or, most likely, he thought he didn't have to spend money on her because she was sleeping). Any which way, I ended up giving my chicken sandwich to my mom, and dad and I split a triple whopper. I ate maybe two bites and felt completely disgusted with myself - which is strange, cuz I'm Filipino and we pretty much eat any kind of meat, even when it's deep fried in lard.

The next day, I went over to Rob's house and his cousin, Mat was watching Fast Food Nation. I watched a snippet of the part where they kill the cow - and I decided right there that I was changing my diet.

Four days later, I have crazy amounts of energy all day and night, my skin looks better, and I'm forced to recall my past culinary prowess.

YUM!

3) Couch Surfing. This is what it says on the website: "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding.

"As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing isn't about the furniture- it's not just about finding free accommodations around the world- it's about participating in creating a better world. We strive to make a better world by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!"

The basic idea is it's a collective of people who hang out with strangers and get to know each other in person. Think Facebook or MySpace, only there's a good chance these strangers will give you a tour of their town/city and take you to the "real" side of the place.

I've been meaning to join this community for a while, but only now have I gotten the courage to do so. I think maybe the idea of living in southeast asia has made me realize how valuable traveling really is.