You did what? You stayed in the house of a random stranger. Half way around the other side of the world? And what if they murdered you? Are you mad?
Earlier this year, as part of our tour around the north western states of New England in the USA, my wife and I couch surfed.
Couchsurfing is not a novetly olympic sport of standing on piece of IKEA furniture going down hill.Its a way of travelling and journeying that involves becoming part of a community of travellers and hosts around the world. Whilst we travelled around New England in colourful autumn, Kajal and I were hosted by two delightful families who opened up to us in their homes and treated us with kindness and warmth.
Before we went out to New England we searched the online pages of couchsurfing.com. We noted some interesting sounding profiles of potential hosts. We contacted plenty of them and some replied with a 'sorry, not this time'. Others were not sure whilst a few were positively bubbling with enthusiasm.
After a bit if back and forth on phone and email, we crafted and moulded our itinerary around the area to include some nights being hosted in two different spots. We set off from the UK with plans to stay a night in a B&B in Concord, Massachusetts, home of Ralph Waldo Emerson and host to Henry David Thoreau.
After our first night we headed north where we met our first couch surfing hosts on the shores of Lake Winnipesauke. We stayed a couple of nights with a delightful family in a farmstead complete with seven horses, various chickens and a pet rat. We then moved on into the White Mountains, back to B&B territory. And then after that we spent another couple of nights couch surfing - this time in an old paper mill town on the edge of the White Mountains.
The stays we had we fabulous. We were hosted really generously and we had beds, not couches to sleep on. We met some really interesting people and had rich, warm conversation. And we were also given space and time to explore the local area by ourselves, with hints and tips by locals who know.
Some people ask whether you have to pay anything to surf. Well no, you don't have to pay a penny. If you like to carry on doing this, then you probably ought to be curtious and kind, as there is space for references attached to your profile, so that would be hosts can hear a bit about you from others who have had the pleasure of hosting you. Every time that I have surfed, I have cooked dinner for my hosts and this seems to work wonderfully. But you definitely don't have to pay a penny to surf.
So, if you don't pay a penny to your host, then - people immediately wonder - what on earth they get from hosting you, if not money?
Well, despite the best efforts of our estimed bankers, politicians, media moguls and advertisers, it turns out that not everyone evaluates life choices on the basis of effect upon their bank balance. Some people seem to think that meeting new and interesting people, having unexpected encounters and discovering the small connections that make us part of a shared web of living can be payment enough.
Couchsurfing is not for everyone.
If you are convinced about things, if you know precisely what life is about and have it all sussed out already then it may not be for you. But if there is a bit of you that is still not sure, then it might provided you with some curiously intriguing clues by sleeping in some else's bed.
