We host couchsurfers in our home. This means that we use an website/app (www.couchsurfing.com) and people request to stay with us for a few nights while they explore our beautiful town.
"You let people you don’t know stay in your house for free?" Yep :)
"What if they steal something?" They don’t
"Don’t they eat all your food?" If anything they bring more than we do to the party.
These three questions are interesting to me. They all come from a mindset of scarcity. Ask yourself under what circumstances would you let someone you didn’t know stay in your home. We let people stay because we have the room, the time and the desire for them to stay.
We would not let people stay if we didn’t want them to. In fact, this is a good time to discuss how we go about selecting who stays.
Who Stays?
Our home is large enough but we usually only have 2 couchsurfers stay at any one time. This is due to the physical limits on our space but also the connection that you can establish when there is 1 or 2 people. We have had up to 8 people stay in one night and those in groups of 3 or more seem to cluster in their own groups. This is not mean spirited but these folks are usually just passing through and looking for a base to plan the next part of their trip and get some local advice.
The app is pretty simple to set up, take a few photos and put some time into filling out your profile. Fill in your profile so that the person who may be your host will want to meet you. Don’t be general and don’t half ass it. If you do, you are much less likely to be accepted.
A good Message goes a long way
The next step is that you will want to message people that look interesting to stay with. Have a read through the profiles and find those that are like minded to you. I will mention it further down but couchsurfing is not Tinder. Males ; if you are on this thinking that offering a place to single ladies will get you laid, it won’t, it’s creepy and it is not part of community building. Ladies; I have heard from too many single women that have had bad experiences with single men that it is best to do your research before hitting them up.
When you send the person a message, make sure you put some time into it. I know that it can be hard as you want to message quite a few people to make sure you get somewhere to stay, but you will be accepted much more often by making sure the message hits its mark with a few, rather than a shotgun approach.
Please ask questions of your host, especially if you are hitchiking or don’t have a means of getting to the places under your own steam, make sure you are not a burden at the outset. Some hosts bend over backward for their guests but then again, some don’t. Please don’t assume that a host will have the time or the energy to help you.
What you bring?
As a couchsurfer, you are paying for your stay, just not in a dollar value. You bring something much more valuable; your time and experience. I have personally sat and talked with over 200 couchsurfers in my time. The stories that people have are as diverse as the sheer quantity. Bringing that experience into a home is why the host is letting you stay. I would advise sharing your stories and not keeping them to yourselves.
As a guest, you are really getting the experience of how other people live. Plan to be a little out of your comfort zone. If you are in a new country there will be plenty of things that you will notice that are different to your own way of living. This is not an hotel. You will not be given the sterilised version of life that a big chain will give you. You are accepting life as it is for the people who are hosting you.
What couchsurfing is not.
It is not a way to stay in peoples houses for free. The community is built on trust, it is built on the decency of other people who are welcoming and inviting you into their home to share what they have.
Do’s -
Have some of your own sleeping gear just in case
Be prepared to cook or fend for yourself, don’t assume you will be fed
Be polite and courteous
Ask questions
Tell your own stories
Be prepared to try new things
Don’ts
Don’t lock yourself away and ignore your hosts
Don’t overstay your welcome
Don’t be disrespectful
Reviews.
Please leave a review. Good or bad the community needs to know. This especially goes to the female readers. If you stayed in a place that you felt unsafe or harassed; say so. Assume that everyone that reads your review will be a naive 18 year old who was raised not to make a fuss, would you put her in the same situation? If you don’t leave a review because you don’t want to offend, you may be dooming the next person to a worse fate.
If on the other hand, you had a great time then let everyone know. The more the host gets an ego bump the more likely they will want to accept the next person that asks.
Final thoughts.
I say get out there and try it. Couchsurfing is an amazing way to meet lifelong friends and pick up ways of living that you never thought of.
If you have a spare room or just a spare couch in your place, try it once, be picky who you let stay but then set about enjoying the experience.
Images from Couchsurfing.com and my own photography.
If anyone would like more information, don’t hesitate to ask me.