I just completed a little conquest:
to travel a week, spending as little money as possible. I started by venturing onto a website called
couchsurfing.org, creating a profile, and sending out requests. For those of you unfamiliar with couch
surfing, it is the practice of crashing on someones couch for a night, or two,
or however long you need- but instead of a friend, you’re staying with a total
stranger. It sounds crazy. I know. So I thought I’d do some first hand research, write about
it, and maybe demystify and hopefully destigmatize the whole concept.
I’m
not entirely naïve. I understand
that I’m a small 25 year old female traveling alone and asking to stay with
strangers. So I narrowed my search
to females and couples. My first
stop, Provo, Utah. I typed the
city in couchsurfing.org’s search engine and a multitude of women and couples
appeared on their data base. I
sent out requests to three or four couchsurfing members with the dates I’d be
in town and within 36 hours I had a place to stay.
The date rolled around a week later and I arrived in Provo,
Utah. The couple I was staying
with had gone to see a movie so I killed time at a local coffee shop till they
returned home. I introduced myself and we sat and chatted for an hour or so
before bed. They were mormon
newlyweds. We exchanged stories
about life and our general travel experiences. Despite warnings that I might get a hard sell on the
LDS (mormon) religion, the topic never came up; Though there was a copy of The
Book of Mormon strategically (or coincidentally) placed on my bedside
table.
This was my very first couch surfing experience. I had no idea what to expect or what
the proper protocal was. I was amazed and
grateful when they showed me to my own room complete with a twin bed and a set
of clean towels. I left in the
morning, after they wished me a good day and offered me some breakfast. I was out all day, but kept my hosts in
the loop on my estimated arrival and returned that night to sleep. The next morning they had gone to
church. I made myself some
breakfast and surfed the internet till about noon when I hit the road to Salt
Lake City. It was a wonderful
introduction to the world of couch surfing. I slept well, washed up, ate, took care of business-
everything I would do at a hotel, but for free.
Next up, three days in Salt Lake City. I had confirmed another stay with a
couple who pulled out two days before realizing it was Mother’s Day weekend and
they were otherwise committed. It
was then that I encountered my first problem with couch surfing. There’s no guarantee. So I sent out another request, this
time broadening my search to include men, and I heard back within a few
hours. My host picked me up and
brought me to his place that he shared with his roommate. This time I was on the couch. I didn’t mind as it was a couch that I
expected when I signed up to “couch”surf.
After chatting for a bit my host took me to downtown Salt Lake City
where we spent the night with some of his friends visiting some local
haunts. The next day they took me
on a glorious hike through Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. I bought groceries and made dinner for everyone that night
to say thank you. The third day I
had the place all to myself while my host went off to work. Three nights on the couch did a number
on my back, but it was free and worth every penny.
I spent my last night in Omaha, Nebraska. I didn’t arrive till 10:30pm but the
couple hosting me welcomed me with kindness and another room all to
myself. They were in their mid
20s, a pair of high school sweethearts planning their upcoming nuptuals. They had recently spent eight months
traveling through South America, using couch surfing to find places to
stay. We traded stories- they had
talked about all the folks they’d hosted, most recently, a couple traveling
through town for a Berkshire Hathaway conference. At that point I learned couch surfers range from drifters to
investment bankers. Anyway, I
spent the night on a full size futon and let myself out in the morning. Another pleasant stay at no cost.
So would I recommend it? Absolutely.
Particularly for short stays.
But be smart. Identify who
you’re comfortable staying with.
You can filter search results by gender, age, etc. Read people’s profiles. Like facebook, couch surfing has a
profile page for every member. Get
a sense of your potential host by reading through theirs. Additionally, there is a system of
recommendations. Like yelp or
tripadvisor, people can rate their experience with hosts and surfers. I only contacted people who had several
good reviews. But remember,
there’s no guarantee. Something
may come up at the last second and you may be SOL when you get to your
destination.
My other cost cutting method for the week was ride
sharing. I had to get from Salt
Lake City to Omaha. Flights were
far more than what I wanted to pay and getting a one way rental car was almost
as bad. So I hopped onto
Craigslist to see what I could find.
In the top left hand corner of Craigslist is a section called Community
where Rideshares are listed. I
browsed the rides offers and sure enough found someone driving from Salt Lake
City to Orlando, Florida- Omaha was right along the way.
I called and spoke to my rideshare and kept in contact
regarding details. We were set to
make the 14 hour trip Monday morning.
The two of us and another girl catching a ride to Miami. We exchanged drivers license numbers to
verify. The Saturday before our
scheduled departure I got a text saying something was wrong with the vehichle
and we wouldn’t be able to leave until Tuesday. Tuesday morning rolled around and I was at my pickup
location waiting for my ride when I got a text saying the other girl hadn’t
shown up yet. After standing on
the corner for another 30 minutes my ride arrived, but without the other rider,
she was a no show. So now it was
just me and this guy I had just met driving cross country.
He seemed nice enough.
We passed the first couple hours getting to know one another. After nine hours I started getting stir
crazy and counting down the miles to Omaha. Every so often it felt like the dilapidated car we were
driving was ready to give out- eventually it started making some disturbing
noises. As 9pm rolled around and
the sun disappeared we were approaching Lincoln, NE just an hour outside of
Omaha, when we had to stop on the side of the road. My rideshare disappeared
underneath the car for 20 minutes, something was wrong, he explained it to me
but I honestly had no idea what he was talking about, I was just focused on the
65 miles separating me from where I needed to be. We drove to the next exit, got off, and he continued his
work. All I know is he was doing
something with a flashlight and
some rope. At this point I really started
to worry. It was getting to be
10pm. My couchsurfing hosts, who
I’d never met before were waiting on me.
Luckily we got on the road again and made it to Omaha before 11pm. All it cost me was one tank of gas- and
a little but of stress and worry.
So would I recommend it? It depends. If
you have some flexibility and can tolerate a certain level of uncertainty, then
sure. It’s cheap and you get to
meet new people. However, there
isn’t much of a screening process like there is with couchsurfing. You can’t read through someones profile
ahead of time or read reviews. Nor
can you get a full history and report on the condition of their vehichle. But I think if you’re thorough in your
convorsations before the trip, it’s not much different than finding an
apartment or a roommate through craigslist. You find a match, you collect whatever information you can,
and you make a decision on whether or not you think it’ll be a good fit for
you.
At the end of the day, saving money is great, but you have
to do whatever makes you comfortable.
There are definitely creepy and crazy people out in the world, but I
think most of us are savvy enough to filter through and remove ourselves if a
situation arises. Will I couchsurf or rideshare again? Probably. I had a decent experience with both and
for short trips and/or stays it’s such an easy cost cutter. I guess it all
comes down to value. For me, it’s
crazy to spend $80 on a hotel room that I’m going to be in for less than 12
hours.. It’s just not worth that
price. I’d much rather stay on a
couch for free. But I do see the
value in paying for a hotel when I’m staying a while and have things to do and
need to come and go at my own leisure and be assured a good night’s sleep. So think about that the next time you
travel. If you have any of those
quick overnights at least consider the alternative. I did it and I’m not sorry.
