My sister and I planned a last-minute trip to London and Paris in August that almost ended up being cancelled with a very close call of not getting our UK visas in time. Fortunately, everything worked out and we had a trip of our lives.
Ever since I heard about couchsurfing, I had been itching to try it. The idea of couchsurfing is that travelers request accommodation from hosts and sleep in their couch or guest bed, or whatever they offer you, for an agreed upon time frame. You get the experience of interacting with local(s) that you wouldn’t otherwise get if you stayed in a hotel. I’ve also casually mentioned this to my friends and acquaintances, most of them weren’t particularly fond of the idea because of potential risks that may involve. But just like most things in life, people fear what they don’t know. I tend to look at fear as the seasoning to my plain-tasting food (you know how terrible I am at cooking.) and it usually gives me the motivation to do it. As Will Smith said: “fear is imaginary, danger is real.”
We went for it. We contacted a couple dozen Couchsurfing hosts in both London and Paris. Being new to this and with no references, we honestly didn’t expect much of it, but we were lucky enough to get one yes from a young gentleman from London. We messaged back and forth and agreed to stay at his apartment for 3 nights. He lived a short train ride from Central London, which was relatively easy to get to. Since we didn’t have cell phone service in the UK, we got wifi from McDonald’s near his apartment and let him know we arrived. He met us there shortly after and had a nice chat there before heading out to buy grocery to make dinner together. Everything was in close proximity and convenient around here. He brought us to this local supermarket that sold most things with its own in-house brand so everything was cheaper. We bought a huge bag of grocery for about 10 pounds.
He had what Americans call a studio apartment, but it was considered a one-bedroom in London due to some property law or something. He offer my sister and I a double-sized mattress, which was big enough for the both of us. He slept across from us in the room in his single mattress. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded and we were able to get some sleep. We were a tad jet lagged the day we arrived and he needed to go to bed early that night so it worked out for all of us.
The next day there was a Tube strike that suspended all the Tube services. Without the Tube, we thought we couldn’t get into the city but our host found alternative bus routes for us to get out and explore. This was one of the many great benefits of knowing a local who knew the city well.
We had a really great first couchsurfing experience. We took our host out for a meal and were proactive in keeping his apartment clean, even washing his dishes. We also brought a souvenir from Boston as a way to thank him for being so incredible.
This experience has made me very thankful for the sharing economy and the people who generously participate in it.
Mild Turbulence 