Hacker News Reader

Use it in conjunction with something like:

to find inexpensive places to stay.

Or find a free place to sleep at http://www.couchsurfing.org. I haven't done this but know folks who have had great experiences with couch surfing.

The OP might also include profiling his hosts as part of his video project. Sort of a Tour of America And It's People... or something like that.

I can recommend this too, it's big in places like Portland