CouchSurfing

For those who doesnt know, CouchSurfing is an online travelers community. What is it about? You sign up, fill your profile and if you’re traveling you can look in the cities you’re visiting for people to host you or people can ask you to crash at your place (surf your couch), if they’re visiting your city. That simple.

Yeah, for those skeptics, it sounds terribly dangerous. Well, in my personal experiences it is not. Last year I kind of backpacked five cities of the US (DC, Phillie, NYC, Boston and Chicago), and in three of them, I surfed somebody’s couch, air mattress or even bedroom.

It’s an incredible experience having strangers opening up their doors to another stranger! I feel so grateful. Despite of just staying a couple of nights at each one, I kept in touch with them and some of their friends. Actually my Chicago’s host, Justin, just arrived this morning to Veracruz to stayed with me and my family. So nice to have him here! And I’m talking about traveling with my Phillie’s host, Joey, next year for our birthdays (we are from the same day); would be great!

Here in Veracruz there is CSers community who often organizes trips, reunions, parties, whatever. I’m some sort of Grinch and haven’t gone to almost all; but it’s nice to know I have the option. They’re nice people.

What’s the point of this? Not traveling for cheap, even though it helps a LOT! It’s to connect people from different parts of the world, to have a more real experience when traveling and even networking. I love it!!

The trick of this: first write a good profile, be honest about yourself so people who think could get along with you, host you or surf your couch. When traveling, give a really good check to the profiles and all the references of them, that’s what’s gonna give a better clue of who is who. And of course, be open! If you’re not, don’t even bother open the web page.

By the way, I want to clarify something about Justin. He recieved 3 negative feedbacks among the hundreds of good ones he hs (3 negative references is bad for this web community). Don’t know why, he is a great host! I loved staying at his place and he’s more than welcome at my. Maybe those chicks didn’t like his direct, intense and vibrant personality, but it doesn’t make an experience a negative one at all (in my opinion, at least). Anyway, I recommend him!!

Check out the website: www.couchsurfing.com if you’re not that trusty you can always start looking for people just to hang out eith when traveling, instead of crashing somebody’s place right on, and see what happens.


By the way, those who know my parents dont ask me directly about this in front of them. When I told them I traveled like that last year, they almost had a heart attack! They're not open people lol.



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