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15.01.2013

IS YOUR COUCH AVAILABLE?

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Couch Surfing friends.

     For those who are not familiar with the idea this question sounds like an offer for a one-night stand. You will find out what it really is all about when you try it yourself or by reading this post for the beginning.

     The idea we had before starting the trip was to use Couch Surfing as often as possible. For those who don’t know what it is here comes a short explanation. There is a website (www.couchsurfing.org) where people who like to travel sign in and create a profile. Depending on what you’re interested in you can offer a place to stay for a night for those who visit your city or town or, if you have no space or you’re not yet willing to invite foreigners to your home, you can just meet with the travelers and show them around. It’s all for free but there is definitely much more to it than just saving the money. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet people from all around the world, talk to them about their countries, cook with them, party with them or… do whatever else you want! All that allows you to experience other cultures more deeply and more truly.

     All this sounds like a post sponsored by Couch Surfing but it’s not. We started with Couch Surfing last year in Warsaw where we hosted people at our apartment. We’ve had over a couple from Germany, a student from the USA and an actress from Canada. All were young, positive, open and curious about the world. We enjoyed having them around, talking about different things and showing them the cool, less touristic places in Warsaw. Our first experience as surfers was also last year in Havana, Cuba where we spent a few days with a Cuban family. We found it so positive that we thought it might be a really great idea for our one-year-round-the-world trip.

     And now, here we are in South America enjoying the time spent with Brazilian, Argentinean and Chilean people. All are of different backgrounds. So far we’ve met teachers, dancers, students, businessman, musicians, travel guides and cooks. We’ve spent our time together on cooking local food, enjoying a barbeque (asado), celebrating Christmas, dancing tango, visiting some tourist attractions or simply having a beer or wine and talking. Conversations about traveling, politics, religion, traditions and customs, music, literature and everyday life are a really great way to learn a lot about other cultures.

     We plan to use Couch Surfing as often as possible. We’ve been traveling for 1,5 month now and so far we’ve spent only a few nights in the hostels (and a few on the buses). We still have 9 more months to travel and we hope that we’ll be meeting new great hosts on Couch Surfing all that time.

     Take a look at our profile to see more about our experience In CS! Link: Marta and Łukasz