Couchsurfing.org is one of the greatest internet inventions ever for traveling, but unfortunately over the years some people have done their best to turn it into another sleazy «hook-up» network, and use the website to get play. Before I go further I want to say, if you’re reading this and you use Couchsurfing principally for hooking-up, you’re a pathetic loser. Take your sad, bored, out-of-ideas ass to one of the 17 million other dating websites that exist. Ok, I got that off my chest.

For those who don’t know, Couchsurfing.org was created about 10 years ago as a social network to put travelers in touch with locals around the world. The main idea is for people to help out travelers passing through by offering them an extra bed/couch/place to sleep, or by showing travelers around their city firsthand with tips, sugerencias, & sometimes even tours.

Now most people who I tell about Couchsurfing immediately respond with, «But how do you know they won’t murder you?» Well to you my non-traveling friends, I’d first like to tell you that most people around the world don’t want to murder you. I know it’s hard to believe, but most people are good at heart, y sincerely want to help you out. Secondly, Couchsurfing is based on the trust system where travelers leave positive or negative reviews on each person’s profile after meeting them. These references/reviews can’t be erased, so you can get a good idea of who someone is based on what others say about them.

An example of a positive reference might be, «Lisa was awesome – she took us to the park & introduced me to her friends. London would not have been the same without her, & I recommend staying with her if you go to London!» An example of a negative reference might be, «Ned was weird. I felt uncomfortable when he turned on techno music, ripped off his shirt, started smearing nutella on his chest in front of me, & asked me if I wanted to have sex with him. I do not recommend staying with Ned.»

Unfortunately there are more & more stories like Nutella Ned’s coming out of Couchsurfing everyday. But despite that sad fact, I still highly recommend using Couchsurfing to travel. The good FAR outweighs the bad, and with a little bit of selectivity & smarts, Couchsurfing should enrich your travel experiences, not detract from them. Use Couchsurfing correctly and you’ll have amazing & authentic experiences & make lifelong friendships. Use Couchsurfing incorrectly & you could find yourself in a situation like I did one night in Berlin, Germany.

Couchsurfing Hosts Nymphos in Berlin

I had been on the Grecian islands for a while, and needless to say, hadn’t been worried about connecting to the internet too much. I paid to use an internet cafe, and spent 30 minutes blasting out requests to Couchsurfers in Berlin, my next destination, without taking the time to properly investigate their profiles. I just needed a place to stay, and besides, I had had no negative Couchsurfing experiences so far, so how bad could it be really? That turned out to be pretty naive of me…

When I checked back into the cafe a few days later, I had received almost all denied Couchrequests, but had one invitation. Sophia seemed to have a decent profile. She had one reference from some guy named Michael & was located in a good part of town, plus I didn’t have any other invitations, so I confirmed.

A couple of days, a delayed EasyJet flight, a long train ride into the city, & directions from a few people on the street later, & I finally arrived at Sophia’s apartment & knocked on the door. It was almost midnight, so I let out a huge sigh of relief when someone opened up.

«Hey – are you Ford?» the girl who opened the door asked me.

«Yea, are you Sophia?»

«Yea, come in. We waited for you at the airport for a few hours, but you never came so we had to come back home.»

«Yea, thanks & sorry. The flight was delayed. I’m just glad to be here though, I seriously thought I was going to die when we were landing,» I replied truthfully.

Yea, those flights are cheap for a reason. Here take a seat. You want a beer or something?

After all the chaos that I had been through the past 10 hours, and the fact that I was now in Germany – beer capital of the world, that was perhaps the most well-timed beer of all time. «Yes, I would love a beer.» I answered as I slid my backpack off onto the floor.

So there we sat in her kitchen, making small talk, getting to know each other, I asked her questions about Berlin, she was asking me questions about my trip & what I had done so far, etc. etc. I remember thinking to myself that Germany was off to a good start after all.

But after about 15-20 minutes or so, she asked me if I wanted another beer, got one out of the fridge, handed it to me, and asked as she was sitting back down, «Asi que, do you like sex?»

*insert 2-3 second awkward pause*

«Um….what?»

«Do you like sex? Sabes, like having it.» she repeated.

«Uhh….yea I guess so. I mean, who doesn’t right?» I half responded, half nervously chuckled. That is a weird question to ask someone you barely know, Yo pensé.

I quickly changed the subject and steered the conversation in another direction. I’m usually pretty good at that, but after a minute or so she completely jerked the conversation back where she wanted with her next question, algo en la línea de, «So what’s your favorite position?»

Okay, I thought to myself, she clearly wants to talk about sex. I tried to ignore it the first time, but that didn’t work. This is weird, but I’m an adult & I can handle this. Maybe talking about sex openly with strangers is normal here in ole’ Deutscheland. I don’t want to be rude to my new Couchsurfing host, but this is definitely weird.

«Why do you keep asking me about sex?» was the best comeback I could muster.

«Bien, I just really like sex. I think it’s a great hobby.»

Hobby? Really Sophia? You think sex is a good hobby? Well I think collecting baseball cards is a good hobby. You know what else is a good hobby? Not creeping your Couchsurfers out within 20 minutes of knowing them. Ever thought of trying that hobby out Sophia?

«Huh.» was all that came out of my mouth.

With a proud & matter-of-fact aire, Sophia continued, «Yea, actually me & my flat-mate Michael have a competition. We like to see who can sleep with the most Couchsurfers. We try to have sex with at least 10% of our Couchsurfers.»

I choked on the beer that I had been taking a swig of in that very moment, wiped my mouth off, & remarked, «Is that right? And which one of you is winning?» Somewhere in the back of my mind the name Michael rang a bell…

«Bien, Michael was, but I think I am now. I’ve been getting laid a lot lately! Michael says it’s not fair because I’m bisexual, I have double the opportunities. But Michael’s just into guys!»

«Into guys?» I asked.

«Yea, Michael’s gay. I told him him being bisexual is more fun, but Michael just likes guys, HEHE!

Yeah…..big «hehe» there Sophia. My chances of getting sexually assaulted just went from «extremely high» to «already been raped.» Out of my 2 new Couchsurfer hosts, Al menos 1.5 of them wanted to do the hokie pokie with me.

«Yeaaa, I don’t really believe in that. I try to use Couchsurfing just for traveling & not as a dating site. It says that in the guidelines when you sign up, ya know?»

«Yea, but whatever it’s just fun. So do you like to use toys in bed?» Sophia continued, after acknowledging & charging headfirst through the NOT INTERESTED sign that I just tried to put up.

At this point I realized that there was nothing I could do to change the subject. This German chick was just too blunt & too horny to talk sense into. I was sure that I was not getting anywhere near her «10%, so I decided to play along.

«I don’t really know much about them – but I bet you do.»

«Oh sí, they’re great.»

To keep things PG-13, I won’t get into too much detail, pero he de decir que ella procedió a describir para mí, en detalle, lo que su juguete favorito era el sexo. Ella realmente no necesita, aunque, porque después de decirle que no estaba familiarizado con dicho juguete, ella inmediatamente me informó, «Bien, hay uno ahí mismo.»

Señaló, así que me di la vuelta, y justo detrás de mí en la estantería al lado de una pila de platos era un poco de fútbol buscando algo de plástico con una manija en ella que presume que el artefacto de los pecadores se mencionó anteriormente.

«No se preocupe, está limpio» ella me dijo.

Hice una nota mental de no comer nada en el apartamento.

La conversación se prolongó durante un tiempo más antes de que nos dieron dos cansado y se fue a dormir, ella en su cama, y yo en el colchón de aire en el suelo. A pesar de Sophia obtener directamente al grano sobre sus intenciones conmigo, nada terminó sucediendo durante mi 4 días estancia allí. Por suerte su compañero de piso Michael nunca hizo un movimiento en mí, ya sea, pero él me hizo presión para tener un trío con dos chicas alemanas que nos habíamos conocido en un club de unas cuantas noches después. Simplemente no podía entender por qué yo no iría a casa con tener relaciones sexuales con dos desconocidos, y trató de hacerme sentir como que no estaba «hombre» suficiente (irónica de un chico gay eh?). Llegó a ser tan loco & agresiva conmigo, que finalmente me convenció para salir al día siguiente.

Cómo evitar Experiencias Weird Couchsurfing

¿Por qué fueron Sophia & Michael lo sexual trastornado? A cada uno lo suyo, y ¿quién soy yo para juzgar cómo quieres vivir tu vida, pero ¿por qué estaban tan empeñados en imponer sus apetitos sexuales de mí, su invitado, su Couchsurfer?

No sé si alguna vez tengo la respuesta a esa pregunta, pero tengo la respuesta para evitar este tipo de experiencias Couchsurfing – Sea selectivo! Me copie, pegado & criticó esta solicitud Couchsurfing a alrededor 20 personas en Berlín, sin siquiera leer sus perfiles. Porque no tomé el momento adecuado para investigar quién me iba a quedar con, Terminé con dos monstruos que querían mi wienerschnitzel.

Tómese su tiempo en la investigación de los perfiles de las personas. Leer todo a fondo – ver si te lo dan, junto con esta persona. Lea las referencias a otras personas los dejaron. Si tienen múltiples referencias positivas que usted puede estar bastante seguro de que es una persona decente. Si no tienen referencias, tratar de hacer una investigación sobre la persona por mensajería vuelta & luz un poco, conseguir su Facebook, o llamarlos por teléfono.

Mi amiga Rachel del blog Hippie En Tacones tiene un gran artículo 9 Consejos para la seguridad Couchsurfing para obtener más consejos en profundidad & la seguridad del protocolo para la red. Está acostumbrada Couchsurfing en todo el mundo, y altamente recomienda usarlo, incluso como una mujer que viajaba sola. Lo que me lleva al último punto que quiero reiterar….

Couchsurfing es todavía seguro & Recomendado

Como mencioné al principio, a pesar de la enredadera de azar, Couchsurfing sigue siendo una herramienta muy valiosa para los viajeros. Por cada Couchsurfer raro que he conocido (sólo ha habido un puñado), He conocido 10 Couchsurfers REALMENTE FRESCAS. Nunca olvidaré Yohana, que me llevó a una cascada escondida en Bali, o Leo, que me dejó accidente en su casa de playa en las islas griegas durante una semana, o Susie, quien me dio las llaves de su apartamento durante el 2008 Eurocopa & me llevó a todas las celebraciones. Todas estas experiencias no fueron simplemente destaca de mis viajes, pero los recuerdos que nunca olvidará. Eso es lo que la belleza de Couchsurfing es – cita & pasar tiempo con los locales, haciendo lo que hacen, va donde van, REALMENTE clavándose en su cultura, y tener la oportunidad de ver su versión de la vida.

 

¿Qué opinas sobre Couchsurfing?

¿Tiene alguna buena historia Couchsurfing? ¿Ha tenido experiencias similares? Te recomiendo usar Couchsurfing a otros viajeros? ¿O reacios a usar CouchSurfing por razones como esta? Me encantaría escuchar sus historias de Couchsurfing en los comentarios a continuación!