I’ve managed
to save quite a bit of money using couchsurfing whilst travelling. It’s a money-free arrangement where you stay with a local on their couch, their floor or if
you are lucky, in a spare bedroom. It’s a system based on trust, honest reviews
and friendship. And whilst you can save some serious cash by kipping on a strangers
couch, there is always that little voice in the back of your head reminding you
that there’s a chance you could end up chained up in someone’s basement covered
in peanut butter!
Thousands of
travellers have had wonderful experiences using couchsurfing, but just to make
sure you don’t become one of the rare few negative cases, you can follow these
simple rules:
1. Read the Website Guidelines.
Someone spent a very long time writing and spellchecking this
thing, so the least you can do is read the websites guidelines. The site
clearly maps out their own safety tips, (many of which I will simply
reiterate,) but they are there for a reason, so spend a few minutes reading
them.
2. Choose Someone with Positive Reviews.
The website allows you to view the profiles of potential hosts
after having filled in your own profile. It is very important to read the reviews
left below each profile to see what sort of experience other travellers have
had with a particular host. If they have a long list of glowing reviews, then
they are most likely a safe bet, but if previous couchsurfers leave a negative
review complaining about the host’s creepy nature or desire to sacrifice goats
in the middle of the night, then avoid like the plague!
3. Think About How You are Presenting Yourself.
Just as important as how you vet your potential hosts, is how
much effort you put into your profile. If you want to save money and make some
local friends by using couchsurfing in a city you will be visiting, then you’ll
want to present yourself as a friendly, organised person who won’t use them
like a free hotel; drunkenly coming in in the middle of the night and barfing
all over the carpet. Likewise, a super sexy profile photo might attract the
wrong type of host who will expect something in return for letting you stay.
4. Don’t Judge the Host Purely on their
Pictures.
Although it’s common practise that many couch surfers do hook
up with their hosts, that is not the point of the site and you should look for
a host you can get on with and feel safe with. Don’t choose who you will stay
with based purely on a hot profile picture. Sure, your host might be finer than Rihanna in a bubble bath, but
they could also be a total weirdo, so don’t use it like a dating app, you need
a safe place to sleep not a risky shag.
5. Declare Any Health, Food Restrictions
or Allergies in Your Bio.
It’s not your hosts job to cook for you, but some might want
to welcome you with a meal or arrange a food culture swap if you are visiting
another country. It’s important to let them know in advance if you have any
diet restrictions or allergies so that you don’t get served a big plate of
poison! And be sure to tell them about any pet allergies you have just in case
they have an animal that could give you a nasty rash or nightmares!
6. Skype, Call or Meet up with Your Host
Before You Stay.
This is possibly one of the most important tips I could give;
arrange to meet your host before you agree to stay. Catfishing is super
annoying when using a dating app, but it can be downright terrifying when you think
you are going to be staying with a 20 year old girl in her flat and turns out
she’s a 40 something year old man and he expects you to stay in his bed! If you
can’t meet in person, (in a PUBLIC place,) then a Skype or facetime call could
be a quick and easy option to make sure the person you will be meeting is the
one you have been emailing back and forth with.
7. Location, location.
It’s not just about the people, after all you are using this
system to help you travel. You need to make sure the location of the house or
apartment is in an area where you can easily access public transport and the
main tourist attractions you want to see. You won’t save any money if you arrange
to stay in a location that’s miles away from all the sites you want to see and
you must shell out money every day to get anywhere. If in doubt, you can ask
your host how far tourist attractions are from the house and what the public
transport is like.
8. Tell People Where You Are.
You should make this a habit every time you travel anywhere,
but make sure that a family member or trusted friend know exactly where you are
staying and I don’t just mean the vague area; give them the address, postcode
and number that they can reach at in case of emergencies and arrange a time and
date to regularly check in with them so that they know you are safe. You may
even want to have a code word that you arrange with them in advance that you
can use to tell them subtly that you are in trouble. This may seem overly
paranoid but I say better safe than sorry and better paranoid than a victim.
9. Crotch Surfing.
Couchsurfing is not ‘banging for roof.’ You do not owe your
host sex in exchange for letting you stay for free. The system is based on
trust and is meant to help travellers keep the cost down and make friends on
the way, it’s not about hooking up, and whilst hooking up between two
consulting adults is perfectly fine, that’s not the point of couchsurfing. If
at any point you feel pressured by your host or by your couchsurfer to sleep
with them, then know that it is OK to leave or ask your couchsurfer to leave.
10. Know that it’s OK to Leave.
You don’t sign a contract- you are under no obligation to
stay if your host is making you feel uncomfortable or if the situation is very different
from how they first advertised it. If they are being creepy, or if they
promised you your own spare room and it turns out your supposed to sleep in the
boiler room, then it is OK to explain to your host that it won’t work and
leave. Make sure you have enough funds to stay in a hostel or hotel for a few
nights if you have to leave your couchsurfers for whatever reason. Don’t leave
yourself no other option than to stay in a bad situation.
A final thought I’d like to leave you with is please do rate
people honestly; there is no point in leaving a super positive review on
someone who you actually had a bad experience with as you are simply setting
others up to have the same bad experience. We need to be a self-policing
community of travellers who look after each other, and whilst you may feel ‘mean’
leaving a negative review on a host, ultimately you could be saving another
traveller some stress and tears.
Have you tried couchsurfing? What was your experience like?
Leave me a comment below letting me know all about it and what your tips are
for staying safe and share this post with anyone considering couchsurfing.
Visit https://www.couchsurfing.com/
for more information about Couchsurfing.
No comments:
Post a Comment