How we are falling in love with Couchsurfing

10 days that we’ve been on the road and not one night spent in a hotel yet. Instead? Super neat encounters with fellow travelers and couchsurfing experiences on the road.

Couchsurfers share their homes, cities and lives in profound and meaningful ways, making travel anywhere in the world a truly social experience.

How does it work?

Either you want to host travelers or you are a traveler yourself looking for a different way to wander and meet locals. You create a profile on the Couchsurfing website defining your interests, describing who you are, where you come from and what you are looking for in this community. Couchsurfing doesn’t exist to provide cheap accomodation or free hotel rooms to travelers, don’t expect to get your breakfast in bed and a little soap on your pillow every morning! You will be treated like a friend crashing on the sofa for the week-end rather than Queen Elizabeth on a diplomatic visit. But you will have a place for the night, you will meet locals and their community, you will witness their daily life and share simple but meaningful moments… all of it for free!

Our first experiences as guests

FullSizeRenderIn Washington DC, we were welcomed by Jordan and Peter who introduced us to their friends with whom we shared drinks in a pretty cool neighborhood of DC. We spent two nights with them, and we had a very good time there even if their heating system was a bit rusty and we ended up sleeping with our winter hats, socks and stacking clothes’ layers.

We also shared a very nice afternoon with Aryeh and Ofra who invited us for lunch and made us discover Georgetown University where they teach. Such a generous couple who put a lot of efforts sharing their local experience with us even if we didn’t know each other. How kind!

Icing on the cake, they brought us to a super girly-pinky-tiny tea room where we had a blast and shared super interesting points of views and conversations. And yes, mini red velvet cupcakes can go along with bearded men!

In Charleston, SC, we were introduced to Gretchen and Joanna, two roommates who took super-ultra care of us. It was a “party-3 days’ stay” with these gals and the couchsurfing community of Charleston.

Last but not least, we met the master of all in Tennessee: Juan.

His goal? Becoming the best host in Memphis and receiving the highest number of positive reviews on his profile. Competition has begun, Master Juan is in the game and this is serious!

Juan doesn’t drink but he will have booze available for you, Juan doesn’t cook but he will have something ready for your arrival, Juan loves his BBQ but he will accompany you in vegan restaurants, Juan doesn’t play music but he’s got a guitar in case you feel like strumming… this guy is amazingly generous!

Better than having professional guides or staying in hotels, Couchsurfing allows us to get to know amazingly generous, open-minded people, willing to share and to exchange.

If you don’t mind lacking some of your comfort/intimacy, this is a really unique experience we would recommend.

What’s better than a local walking you around his/her town? This is the real deal!

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