I’m sure you have realized by now that I’m totally into traveling – it’s just great. You can see different cities/countries, meet people and learn about different cultures. But there’s this huuuuuge downside: it costs a lot of money. You need a flight/train/bus ticket, you need food, money for entrances and of course you need a hotel. Or do you?
There’s a pretty easy and absolutely great solution to keep your expenses as low as possible: it’s called CouchSurfing! Most of you probably think “isn’t that this totally crazy and dangerous thing where you stay at a stranger’s apartment?" Well, yes and no. You do stay at a stranger’s apartment. But (if you are careful and choose wisely) it definitely is not dangerous! How do I know? Because I’ve already crashed a couch – but more about that later.
First some details: The idea behind CouchSurfing is that fellow travelers, who live in (more or less) interesting cities, offer a place to stay. You can stay at their houses/apartments for free and if you are lucky they might even show you around the city. There has to be a flaw? Well no, there isn’t! Those people love to travel, and therefore also love to meet people and to learn about their cultures. So in exchange for them letting you stay at their place, they expect you to talk to them – sounds like an awesome deal to me!
Your next step is going to be to upload some pictures – our host told us that he doesn't accept requests from people who have none or only one picture uploaded. Choose pictures which show who you are – if you like horseback riding upload pictures of you and your horse, if you are an adventurous person upload pictures where you are zip lining, bungee jumping or whatever other crazy things you have done – and so on.
Once you are done with your profile you can start looking for potential hosts. Now comes the most important part: start READING! It is really important that you read the profile of a future host carefully. This is essential to make sure that you won’t stay at one of these creepy guys you read about in the newspapers. Make sure he/she uploaded many pictures, writes a lot about him/herself in the profile, explains why she/he participates in CouchSurfing and most important – read the reviews of previous surfers! I would never send a request to someone who has none, only a few, or even worse, only negative reviews! More important: If you are not sure about a profile or have a bad feeling: Don't risk anything and continue looking for other hosts and stick to the motto "no risk, more fun!"
If you can see these symbols next to a person’s name, it means that his/her identity has been verified and that other people have vouched for them – which is also a really good sign.
Once you have chosen your future hosts (since the first request doesn’t always work out you might want to look for more than one possible host) you can start writing your request – which is the second most important part. Make your request personal and tell your future host why you chose her/him and also what you have to offer and why they should pick you. Maybe you have some interests in common, or you would like to hear about her/his year abroad which she/he mentioned in her/his profile, if she/he wrote that she/he knows basic German you could suggest helping her/him to improve it and so on. It is really important that your future host knows that you did some research and really want to stay with him/her – it’s still their home you will be staying at. And to be honest, you wouldn’t accept a request which says “Hi, I’m Julia and would like to stay at your place for free – looking forward to meeting you” either, right?
We had some really really nice conversations with him, he told us about his many trips (he just came back from a year in Asia) and also told us where we should go/what we should see in the city. All in all it has been a great experience and I would definitely host him as well if he ever came to Austria.
The main idea behind Couchsurfing is not to offer free accommodation. It’s aboutcultural exchange, communication and especially being open-minded and interested in other people and cultures. If you don’t want to communicate with your host, don’t want to hang out with him/her and just want to do your sightseeing with the people you travel with: a hostel would probably be a cheap alternative.
There’s a pretty easy and absolutely great solution to keep your expenses as low as possible: it’s called CouchSurfing! Most of you probably think “isn’t that this totally crazy and dangerous thing where you stay at a stranger’s apartment?" Well, yes and no. You do stay at a stranger’s apartment. But (if you are careful and choose wisely) it definitely is not dangerous! How do I know? Because I’ve already crashed a couch – but more about that later.
First some details: The idea behind CouchSurfing is that fellow travelers, who live in (more or less) interesting cities, offer a place to stay. You can stay at their houses/apartments for free and if you are lucky they might even show you around the city. There has to be a flaw? Well no, there isn’t! Those people love to travel, and therefore also love to meet people and to learn about their cultures. So in exchange for them letting you stay at their place, they expect you to talk to them – sounds like an awesome deal to me!
How to look for couches
First of all you have to sign up at http://www.couchsurfing.org and create a profile. Fill out your profile truthfully and provide as much information as you’d like your future host to know – but keep in mind that you’ll live in their house/apartment, so they definitely won’t accept your CouchSurfing request if your profile isn’t complete.Your next step is going to be to upload some pictures – our host told us that he doesn't accept requests from people who have none or only one picture uploaded. Choose pictures which show who you are – if you like horseback riding upload pictures of you and your horse, if you are an adventurous person upload pictures where you are zip lining, bungee jumping or whatever other crazy things you have done – and so on.
Once you are done with your profile you can start looking for potential hosts. Now comes the most important part: start READING! It is really important that you read the profile of a future host carefully. This is essential to make sure that you won’t stay at one of these creepy guys you read about in the newspapers. Make sure he/she uploaded many pictures, writes a lot about him/herself in the profile, explains why she/he participates in CouchSurfing and most important – read the reviews of previous surfers! I would never send a request to someone who has none, only a few, or even worse, only negative reviews! More important: If you are not sure about a profile or have a bad feeling: Don't risk anything and continue looking for other hosts and stick to the motto "no risk, more fun!"
If you can see these symbols next to a person’s name, it means that his/her identity has been verified and that other people have vouched for them – which is also a really good sign.
Once you have chosen your future hosts (since the first request doesn’t always work out you might want to look for more than one possible host) you can start writing your request – which is the second most important part. Make your request personal and tell your future host why you chose her/him and also what you have to offer and why they should pick you. Maybe you have some interests in common, or you would like to hear about her/his year abroad which she/he mentioned in her/his profile, if she/he wrote that she/he knows basic German you could suggest helping her/him to improve it and so on. It is really important that your future host knows that you did some research and really want to stay with him/her – it’s still their home you will be staying at. And to be honest, you wouldn’t accept a request which says “Hi, I’m Julia and would like to stay at your place for free – looking forward to meeting you” either, right?
Personal experience
Now I would like to tell you about my first CouchSurfing experience, which was in NYC. A friend of mine and I wrote a couple of requests and ended up staying at Tim’s place. He lived in Flushing, Queens and was super nice. Since he had more than 60 positive reviews and wrote a whole novel about himself, we were not really concerned that we would end up staying at a mass murderer’s place - and it turned out that we were right ;)We had some really really nice conversations with him, he told us about his many trips (he just came back from a year in Asia) and also told us where we should go/what we should see in the city. All in all it has been a great experience and I would definitely host him as well if he ever came to Austria.
Conclusion
In my opinion CouchSurfing is a great opportunity to meet many different people, to improve your language skills and to learn a lot about a different culture. Even more, you get the chance to live with a native who can give you tips or (if he/she has time) can even show you the city. But please keep in mind:The main idea behind Couchsurfing is not to offer free accommodation. It’s aboutcultural exchange, communication and especially being open-minded and interested in other people and cultures. If you don’t want to communicate with your host, don’t want to hang out with him/her and just want to do your sightseeing with the people you travel with: a hostel would probably be a cheap alternative.
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