Couchsurfing… it is not only free accommodation, it is the best way to meet travellers and share special moments with local people.
We remember exactly who and when we heard about couchsurfing for the first time. We were planning our first trip and a friend put us in contact with her friend that had just returned from a 6 months trip to Europe. We met with Susan who gave us a lot of valuable information. When we asked Susan about accommodation she told us that many travellers she had met talked about couchsurfing but she was not brave enough to try it. That same night we went home and started looking into couchsurfing. From this day on and for several weeks we spent our afternoons looking at people’s profiles in this website. A few days later we created our own profile and this is how everything started… a relationship with a website that changed the way we travel!
What is Couchsurfing?
For those of you that do not know what we are talking about, couchsurfing is a community of people willing to share their houses with travellers. Travellers will contact potential hosts through the website and tell you a bit about themselves and you decide if you allow them to stay in your house for an specified length of time at no cost. It is not an exchange; it does not mean that because you stay at their place you need to receive them at your place. But it is more than just getting a free place to stay; it is a way to connect with local people and to learn and share a bit about their culture. For us and for a lot of other couchsurfers it is another way of making friends while traveling!
Our first couchsurfers!
Going back to our own experience… We could not believe the day we received our first Couch request; it was very exciting that somebody had chosen us to be their hosts, but at the same time we did not know what to do and how to receive our guests. Two people that we had not meet before were now going to stay in our house for a few days. Our latino instinct came out, our untrustworthiness took over our thinking but at the same time we wanted to make them feel comfortable and welcome in our house. Thousands of questions were passing through our heads… Can we leave them alone? Do we give them keys for our house? Do we have to entertain them? Too many questions but no answers.
We were fortunate enough that our first couchsurfers were two young Irish guys (Sunny and Luke), very relaxed and friendly. Soon after we met them we were considering them our long time friends. After debating the questions and having discussed them with Carlos we decided to be honest and express our concerns. They had been couchsurfing for a while so they responded very well to all our concerns. Since this wonderful experience we have now received 22 couch requests from solo travellers and couples whom we have hosted in our houses in Canada and New Zealand. Sunny and Luke, we will always be grateful for introducing us to this amazing community and for having hosted us in your house in Ireland a few years later.
When we are at home, accepting travellers is like traveling with them through their experiences and plans. We love sharing our experiences with our guests and letting them know about those secret spots we know. We also share a lot of Colombia, its culture and food. We always try to find the time to cook something together and if possible we cook Colombian food. We have gone as far as sending travellers we have hosted to our families’ house in Colombia.
Our experience as guests!
During our trip we have stayed with 20 families that have accepted us like if we were their best friends. It is not only a way to meet local people as me mentioned before, but to exchange cultures and make new friends. Moreover, when traveling for extended periods of time, it allows you to rest from how impersonal hotels or hostels can be. Our experiences in couchsurfing have always been positive and have helped us to connect with people all over the world.
We have been hosted by single people, couples and families. We have slept on sofas, we have had our own room and in a couple of places we have had our own cabin in the garden of our hosts. We have been couchsurfing in Canada, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Oman, United Arab Emirates, India, New Zealand and Brunei.
Our first couchsurfing experience was with Irene, whom we met through Sunny and Luke. Irene accepted our couchsurfing request and hosted us for a month before we started our trip around Europe. Our friendship with Irene continues and we have been traveling together in Europe and New Zealand.
Jurgen and Silvana were our first hosts in Europe. They hosted us in their house in Bonn, Germany where we had a small but very comfortable cabin in the garden of their house. Their good gestures were countless, from taking us to Cologne by train to see the city to giving us breakfast every morning. They also helped us to plan our trip through Germany and provided excellent recommendations on what to do in Bonn and surrounding areas. The best memory we have of Jurgen especially, was the guided tour of the Museum of German History, where he explained a lot about the Second World War based on his relatives stories and their lives after the war.
Ajit, from India, hosted us in his apartment in Muscat, Oman. In one of those conversations about travels we told him we were going to India in a few months; this is how he put us in contact with his family in Kerala who treated us like guests of honour.
Turkey was a country where we did not have to pay for a hotel. The Turkish hospitality is at another level, always friendly and helpful. One of the best moments we had in Turkey was to attend “Mesa de Español”, an event where Turkish people meet in Ankara to practice their Spanish. They treated us incredibly well and we were able to help them improving their pronunciation, vocabulary or just talked about traveling experiences.
Arriving in New Zealand searching for a job that would allow us to save some money to return traveling to Canada not only needed some luck but also a bit of help; this is how an experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives started. A few weeks before arriving in New Zealand we sent some couchsurfing requests. Jerry and Rebecca, who are in couchsurfing because their daughter met her husband through couchsurfing, accepted our request. From the very first minute we met them they started to help us; picked us up at the airport, invited us for dinner and a lot more. This couple gave us more than a place to stay; they lent us a hand and provided the push we needed to start a new life in New Zealand. Jerry made us laugh with all his jokes. Rebecca, with her deep thought questions, made us think and re-think many decisions. What started with a simple couchsurfing request for 3 nights quickly changed into a friendship that we are sure will last for the rest of our lives. Jerry and Rebecca, we will be forever grateful for all your help and support!
And we could continue describing our amazing experience, but have picked some of the most memorable ones to avoid extending this post to much.
Our recommendations!
We have not had a single bad experience with couchsurfing, but this does not mean that certain precautions should be not be taken when hosting or being hosted in an stranger’s house. We are sure that there are stories online about couchsurfing gone wrong, but this is why we recommend everybody to take the time to read profiles and references of potential hosts.
If you are looking for a host please remember…
- Read the description and house rules for the potential host; this way you will avoid surprises when arriving at a stranger’s house. You will find preferences that you might not share. For example, we know a host that runs a nudist house, so the rule is to get naked once you enter the house; if this is not for you do not write a couch request.
- Read the references and trust your gut feeling. If something does not sound right do not send a request, there will always be another person that can host you; otherwise a hostel is always a safer option and you can avoid a bad experience.
- Write a personalised message to you potential host. For us it is important that we receive a personalised message and not a generic one where they have even forgotten to change the name.
- Take the time to read the person’s profile and mention something from it in your request, this way the host will know you have taken the time to read the profile. Some hosts include a keyword in their profiles and this needs to be written in the message, aiming at filtering those people that do not read profiles.
- Do not write a request saying “I need a place to crash before catching my next flight”. Believe it or not we have received such requests. We do not accept this type of couch surfers; this is not the idea of couchsurfing. That is why there are hotels and hostels.
- Write open requests introducing yourself and the dates you are looking to be at one place. This worked for us really well in Turkey; several people were inviting us to stay at their homes.
During your stay please remember…
- This is not a hotel or hostel, this is a home that will host you for a few days. Please do not ask for the wifi password right away!
- Help to keep the house clean and tidy.
- Try to find something you can help with. Remember that people are busy with their jobs and help with some chores is much appreciated.
- Do not expect that on top of hosting you they also feed you, ask where the nearest supermarket is and bring something small you can share with your host.
- Share your travel experiences and adventures. Spend time with your host when they are available, this is the main reason why people are in couchsurfing.
- If you requested to stay three nights make plans to leave after the third night, do not assume you can stay longer without discussing it with your host.
Remember that you might not find somebody to host you but you could probably find someone to spend the afternoon or to share a coffee or a meal with. The couchsurfing community is wonderful and you will not regret being part of it.
We invite you to become a member of this amazing community! And if you are already one we will love to hear you experience, please leave us a comment below.
Subscribe and become a couchsurfer! Maybe one day you will receive a Couch request from us or become one of our guests! You can visit the Couchsurfing website on the link below.
Register with Couchsurfing!