Categories
CouchSurfing Travel Tips

Putting Surf in CouchSurfing

Would you sleep on a complete stranger’s couch? Sounds crazy, I know, but when traveling, doing just that can become a truly awesome experience!

CouchSurfing is a website that let’s you do just that! I signed up for it in Decemeber, thinking that it would be handy for my 3 month Asian adventure! And boy, was that a good decision, as my experiences surfing the couches of complete strangers turned out to be some of my most memorable!

What better way to experience a city than through the eyes of a local? And what better way to understand a new culture than to befriend a local? This is exacly what CouchSurfing is about…cross-cultural exchange!

CouchSurfers are a travel-minded, fun loving type and I definitely got alog well with all 4 of my hosts. I fully trusted all of them and was thrilled to be able to travel my tastebuds with them, as I was encouraged to sample culinary items I would have never dreamed of! But I also developed lasting friendships with some truly outstanding individuals from my experiences in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur.

Aaron & CS Host Marcus

Let’s take Kuala Lumpur as an example. Sadly, I only spent a mere 36 hours in Malaysia, but through my excellent host Marcus (pictured with me above), I was able to not only get a crash course in Malaysian government and society, but also pick up on more Malay than I did Chinese (by contrast, I spent two months in China…and, to be fair, it helped that Malay bears many similarieites to English!)

So with all these fantastic cultural experience, what was my sleeping surface like? Yes, it’s called CouchSurfing, but that doesn’t mean you’re bound to a couch! I slept on one couch, one sofabed, one Chinese-style day bed and one real mattress. Some hosts advise that they can only provide floor space so it would be good to bring a sleeping bag. Generally speaking, most hosts will notate on their profiles what the sleeping situation will be.

And what about getting in and out? Well that’s totally up to your host. I had one host give me a spare key so I could come and go as I pleased. But other times, you and your host need to coordinate schedules. Sure, this might mean that you spend less time at the bar and can’t sleep as late as you like, but compare the experience to staying in a hostel dorm, a place you certianly don’t want to spend a heck of a lot of time! And isn’t the whole point of traveling to get out and see things?

CouchSurfing has definitely forever changed the way I travel and I longingly look forward to the next time I venture outside New York City to meet some fascinating new individuals!

Have you had any experiences CouchSurfing? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed or sign up to receive automatic updates by email!

email

By Aaron

Hey there! I'm Aaron and this is my travel site, where I document my adventures to all corners of the world. My love for travel started at the ripe old age of four, when a midlife crisis uprooted my family to Ecuador for five years. Since then, I've been to countries on 4 different continents. When I'm not blissfully on the road, I reside in New York City, where I become the ultimate travel junkie and spend my days dreaming up my next great adventure! Read More...

10 replies on “Putting Surf in CouchSurfing”

Hahaha…the local NYC CS community occasionally hosts these Orientation Meetings for new members that talk all about what CouchSurfing is like (and the perceived “dangers” of it). I went to one of these and it certainly made me more comfortable to try it out! It might help if you get involved with some of the local events in your community to meet other CouchSurfers first.

Couchsurfing allows for great cultural experiences! I used the website while traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto with a Canadian friend and we were fortunate to have amazing hosts.

Indeed it does! It definitely put me in situations I wouldn’t have been in otherwise, like getting to talk to Chinese people about what they really thought about their government…never a conversation one would have in public! Glad that you’ve had some fantastic experiences as well!

Couchsurfing is my favorite kind of travel. There’s no better way to learn about people on the planet we share than by spending time with them on their own home turf. From the Orthodox monk in Bulgaria, mental health clinic director in Switzerland, and the feisty language teacher in Italy to the newspaper editor in Korea and sheep farmer in New Zealand, I’ve had a blast and learned tons every single time I’ve couchsurfed.

I absolutely agree with you Ann! It gives you the opportunity to experience local life in ways you’d never be able to do otherwise! I mean, how else would I be able to have candid conversations with Chinese nationals about their thoughts on their government?

To echo the sentiments in the other comments…

Couchsurfing has absolutely changed my travels. I’ve only Surfed five times so far, but four of those have been phenomenal and the “worst” one was still a great time. Twice, now, I’ve stayed in a country far longer than I expected to just because I had such a good CS experience that I felt like I needed to explore the area a little deeper.

Good series of posts!

We are huge fans of couchsurfing have hosted over 150 people and enjoyed most of the experiences, we are hoping to surf while we are travelling as realise the benefits of spending time with locals and seeing their city/town through their eyes.

That’s awesome! Having a local’s perspective is so amazingly invaluable as they can show you all the cool places to go and how to get there. And what’s more, I’ve made some really wonderful friends through CS that I’ll cherish for many years to come!

Leave a Reply to Ann Lombardi Cancel reply

%d bloggers like this: