Each of us wants to travel a lot around the world and see new countries. What can I say, far from all people traveled their country. If you consider yourself an economical traveler, you have probably heard of “exchange travels." What is it and how does it work? Let's talk about this in more detail.
What is couchsurfing?
Of course, any easiest option for a traveler is to book a hotel or buy a tour through travel agencies. Or choose an apartment online. But, if you want to incur minimal costs and not pay for housing, then you should pay attention to couchsurfing. This new concept has recently become known to our compatriots and is not too common with us. And yet, some courageous travelers are already actively using all the benefits of exchange vacations. How to translate couchsurfing? Couch is nothing more than a couch, sofa, and surfing is a journey. However, tourists get not just a sofa, but an apartment, house or room for living. This makes it possible not only to significantly reduce the travel budget, but also to see a new country through the eyes of the residents themselves. In addition, couchsurfing is a great opportunity to make friends with new people.
Resource Creation History
In order for tourists to be able to get temporary housing, they need to somehow find like-minded people who are ready to provide a room for living for a while. But how to do that? In 2000, Casey Fenton got the awesome idea of creating a special resource for couchsurfing. This would allow thousands of people from different countries to get to know each other and provide, if possible, accommodation for their guests.
Since then, the Internet resource has existed safely and attracts more and more people. The tourist community currently unites about seven million people from more than 200 countries. It is worth noting that all travelers are interested not so much in obtaining housing as in intercultural exchange.
How to become a member of the service?
Couchsurfing in Russia is not too common, but there are already people who are actively using the opportunity to get a budget holiday. In order to join the community of travelers, you can use a specialized resource on the Internet. Communication, as a rule, takes place in English, however, basic school knowledge is quite enough to create correspondence and decide on organizational issues.
Registration on the site is free. It is necessary to fill out personal data, not forgetting to upload a photo. Experienced couchsurfers believe that more complete information helps to get in touch with other interested parties. Very often potential participants are very frightened by the profile, which contains very little information. The host side is always interested in learning as much as possible about the person who is provided with housing.
Each participant, providing temporary housing, has the right to set some requirements: the number of guests, the sex of tourists, attitude to smoking, etc. In addition, it is desirable to place a photo of the room. And, of course, these photos must be real.
Each owner can offer their own housing option - from a sleeping bag or mattress to a mansion. As they say, who is rich in what. By the way, the rules of accommodation should also be discussed in advance.
What is the advantage of the service?
Couchsurfing. com is a very large modern resource that is constantly developing and brings together many people around the world. Couchsurfing is not only an opportunity to get temporary housing, but also an opportunity to learn something new. It is no secret that the supporters of the service are not only young people, but also representatives of older age groups. The fact is that travelers consider such a tour as an international cultural exchange. In the course of communication, contacts with foreigners are gradually being established. And it does not matter if your exchange is mutual or one-way.
In addition, coming to a foreign country, it is not always easy to navigate the local nuances - food, customs and attractions. The host will help you with this, because the locals are better oriented in all matters.
How to use couchsurfing?
In order to learn how to use the service, you need to understand slang. Very often, in simplified terms, the resource is called “rubber”, and the host (host) is called “host”. “Surfer” is a traveler, “surf” means traveling, “residence permit” means housing, “requester” is a letter sent to hosts of interest. On the site you can leave your feedback - “references” - regarding travel.
In general, it is worth saying that the very idea of couchsurfing is an opportunity not only to travel, but also to provide your accommodation to other tourists. You can arrange a mutual exchange - "you to me - I to you", or you can travel unilaterally. There are no restrictions in this regard.
How safe is couchsurfing?
Every tourist is concerned about the safety of such an exchange - "you to me - I to you." Isn’t it dangerous to go to a stranger or to receive such a guest at home? However, it is worth knowing that close attention is paid to travel safety guest sites. For this reason, both parties to the process must verify their identity with a credit card. If a community member does not wish to undergo such verification, then hardly anyone will want to deal with such a person. And this is absolutely correct.
In addition, you have the opportunity to independently choose whom to go to visit or the person who will come to you. Naturally, it is better for a young girl who travels on her own to choose representatives of her gender as the host party so that there are no unnecessary questions and ambiguous situations.
It’s not necessary to host a person who you don’t like or seem strange to you. Before making a decision, you need to talk with the opposite side. All communication takes place within specialized sites, and all information is recorded just in case. Resource management and security are monitored by moderators. For this reason, on any travelers website there are reviews left by the user himself after visiting this or that person. This is very convenient and gives a certain characteristic that helps other travelers and moderators themselves, who constantly attract new participants, to orient themselves.
In addition, administrators of Internet resources send out information on how to behave properly and comply with security rules. Moderators also report detected fraudsters.
How to behave?
For those planning a trip, couchsurfing can be a great option to help you not only have a good time, but also meet new people. However, before you accept strangers or go on a visit yourself, you need to show a little prudence and find out some points in advance. For example, it is worth chatting with a person on a site in order to understand a little what he is. In addition, you can ask to send a photo of a person or show copies of documents. And now there are many couchsurfing services on which there are reviews about the participants. It makes sense to chat on Skype to have an idea of each other. If you do not like a person for some reason, this means that you should refuse him an overnight stay, because you do not owe anything to anyone.
But going to someone on a visit, do not bother the owners and abuse their hospitality. There are several exchange options. It’s one thing when you’re just going somewhere or come to you, and it’s another thing when there is a full exchange of houses. Then you yourself go to live with strangers, and strangers settle in your apartment or house. This option is quite possible. It is only recommended to remove the most valuable things from home. When planning such an exchange, it is necessary to clearly discuss all living conditions both in your home and in someone else's, in order to avoid problems. This is quite normal.
Another option involves visiting each other in turn. However, this is completely optional. Visits can be one-way. In general, experienced couchsurfers recommend starting a search for options in advance. It’s better to do it in six months. So you will have more time to send out requests, choose the right option and even chat with people. Finding an overnight stay is extremely difficult.
Urgent requests
Nevertheless, the creators of the resources took care of those travelers who were in a strange place without an overnight stay and urgently needed help. There is a “last-minute request” on couchsurf sites. Perhaps such a service will help someone quickly find an overnight stay.
The nuances of couchsurfing
When mastering a new travel option, you should know about some of the nuances. If you are accustomed to relaxing in fashionable hotels and having all the amenities at hand, then you should abandon the idea of traveling on exchange in advance. Couchsurfing is always a certain risk that at the last moment a trip may fail for some reason, so it’s worth having backup options. But with a successful set of circumstances, you can not only see something new, but also chat with new people, and possibly even establish friendships.
However, it is worthwhile to understand that when you go on an exchange vacation, you will not necessarily find yourself in a fashionable apartment or house, the most modest option is quite possible. After all, everyone offers what he has, and no one owes anything to anyone. Photos are usually posted on sites, but if in doubt, do not hesitate to clarify some points in the correspondence. You can choose the option that is more acceptable to you.
Myths about couchsurfing
There are many myths around couchsurfing. So, for example, some believe that these are disguised dating sites. This is actually not the case. The very idea of the resource is to unite people with certain vital interests, but not for dating of a romantic nature. Perhaps, by registering on the site, someone pursues such goals. But these are only special cases.
If you use couchsurfing, this does not mean at all that you should sleep in barns. You can stay with the carefree fun guy in a modest apartment, and with the rich man in the villa. The very idea of couchsurfing unites people of completely different levels of affluence. Among the community of travelers there are also those who only provide housing, but do not use such services themselves. And that is their right. People just help others see the world.
The exchange does not have to be two-way. If something went wrong, then you can refuse the second side to accept. The main idea of couchsurfing is that no one owes anything to anyone - everything happens by mutual agreement. In addition, overnight participants in the resource do not have the right to charge, this is against the rules.
Couch Surfing Reviews
Couchsurfing is a kind of hobby that draws into its networks. According to experienced travelers, trips sometimes turn into an interesting adventure thanks to new acquaintances. Of course, no one should become a free guide or entertain guests. But often, showing hospitality, people tend to introduce guests to their city and country.
Each surfer who has his own travel experience is able to give his recommendations regarding safety and rules of conduct. The option of exchange trips is suitable for active people eager for new adventures and experiences. Each such journey provides an opportunity not only to see a new country, but also to know its way of life and culture. In addition, travelers receive excellent language practice when they end up in a foreign family.
Many tourists, especially young people, having tried couchsurfing, become fans of two-way exchange.
Of course, you should not go to distant lands. Experienced travelers recommend trying out the system in their own country or in cities that are not far from each other. This will help you figure out if this travel option is right for you. Well, in the future you can try your luck and abroad. Some surfers even manage to get to Iceland and Australia. Although the easiest option is European countries.
Suggestions for Writing Queries
It is very important to correctly write information about yourself in the request, because it depends on this whether you want to accept. It makes sense to briefly talk about yourself and your hobbies, perhaps you will find like-minded people. You can indicate where you have already visited and where you want to go.
Be sure to tell about the goals of your trip, what you want to visit and see. Indicate the planned date of visit. It is also worth indicating how many people are in your group or are you planning an independent trip. All these nuances are extremely important for the host. If your trip took place and went well, do not hesitate to leave feedback, because they can help someone a lot. Positive feedback for the host is a kind of gratitude.
Instead of an afterword
Couchsurfing is not just an opportunity for an economical trip (it can turn out to be completely uneconomical in terms of entertainment), but rather an opportunity to be in a new place and get a lot of impressions. If you are young and active, try to become a member of one of the specialized services to join like-minded people. Have a nice trip!