What makes a stranger strange? The fact that you have never met the person and therefore assume that they are strange? Or evil? Or have bad intentions? Does not knowing someone automatically make them a bad person?
Regardless of what is commonly thought of strangers, I slept on a stranger's couch last night.
And I loved it.
Before I worry my mom too much, I have to explain myself. I stayed with a stranger through the incredible (and incredibly safe) website www.couchsurfing.com, which provides free accommodations worldwide to sleep on someone's couch, floor, or in their spare bedroom.
But this website is so much more than a free night's stay. It's a friend to share your journey with, and many times, a lifelong companionship, and I say with confidence that I prefer it 10/10 over a five-star hotel.
My first time using Couchsurfing was in Berlin, Germany. My friend and I had been recommended by several people to try it out, so we thought we would give it a shot. Here's how it works. You search for the location and date in which you are wanting to travel and you look for available hosts. You can choose a variety of categories in which to screen the hosts, including gender, age, whether or not they have been verified through the website or if they have recommendations from other users, etc. You then read the host's bio to see if your interests align. Their profile includes information on their life motto, where they have traveled, what books they have read, and what they can offer their guests, to name a few. More than anything, it is your chance to find some of the coolest people in the world. After that, you request to stay with them by sending them a personal message, to which they will approve or deny, depending.
As we were on our way to meet up with our Couchsurfing host in Berlin, I was unnecessarily nervous. I told my friend that if we see our host sitting at the bar and he looks even a little bit sketchy, we have to keep walking and find somewhere else to stay. Understandably so, being two women in our 20s, I got nervous about staying with a male in his 30s in an apartment in an unfamiliar city.
However, we met him along with his friends at a local bar and immediately knew that Couchsurfing would be far from terrifying. I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible the experience was. Not even once did I feel uncomfortable in this man's apartment--in fact, I felt the exact opposite. I felt at home. He welcomed us as friends to his home overlooking the city. He took us out to dinner with some of his friends where we got to try authentic German food from a restaurant we would have never tried otherwise. The next night he cooked dinner for us in his apartment and we got to eat and get to know one another. To this day, we see each other's adventures on Facebook and keep in touch.
I have a list of other incredible hosts who I have stayed with over the past few months who I also still keep in touch with. Hosts who I attended concerts with, toured cities with, laughed with and smiled with. These incredible people I have met along the way gave me a place to stay, but more importantly, they gave me a restored faith in humanity and a friend I can call on the next time I'm in Berlin, Zurich, Missoula and Denver.
Couchsurfing is a website built on mutual trust. Yes, bad things can happen, as they can happen anywhere. However, I have used this accommodation site about 15 times now and I have never once had an issue. Of course, I am not naive, and I look through hosts' profiles before selecting them, and I choose not to travel alone when I Couchsurf. But Couchsurfing is not weird or scary or dangerous--it is a way to spend no money on accommodations and meet people who want to share the city you are staying in with you because strangers do not have to be strange and extra couches can prove to be pretty comfortable.
