May 9, 2014

Hello Stranger (on CouchSurfing)

Posted May 9, 2014
So I've been trying CouchSurfing for a while now. For those who don't know, CouchSurfing is a social networking site where travelers can either surf or host. To surf is to live in someone else's home when you're in another country, and to host is to accommodate a traveler in your place. Most of the time it's free, at least for my place it is. I read a few hosts who charge a small fee but I'm not into that. So what's in it for me.. hmmm.. I genuinely just want to mingle with people of different culture. Plus I'm single and bored, so it's one of the many things I do to keep myself busy. I'm not really looking for anything more (if you know what I mean.. still don't know what I'm talking about? SEX!). I read there are cases that hosts expect it from surfers, or it's somehow given, so it's a bit scary for girls.


I'm glad several foreigners have already trusted me with their "life", yes life, because it's not easy to trust a stranger. Imagine living in a home where you knew nothing about the person / people living there. They could be bad guys, a serial killer, rapist, or, worse, a vegetarian! But I think this is the beauty of couchsurfing, it brings my faith back in humanity; it reminds me that many people are still inherently good; a timely break from Philippine politics.

I have hosted three times. The first was Silver, a Vietnamese, second were Mandy and Danny, both Chinese, and the last were Namie and Lala, both Vietnamese. And so far I really enjoyed my time with them, especially sharing views and knowing more about their culture and country. I enjoy life talks a lot, but I usually don't have this kind of conversation with friends. Maybe if we're really close or you're an open-minded person.  Many are into basketball, show business news, rumors and gossips but that's just not me.. not at all. I like to talk about culture, experiences, social theories, human behaviors, love and the likes. This is my small talk, and I'm glad I get to talk to my cs friends til dawn about this stuff.


The only negative thing I see so far is the goodbye part. Contrary to popular belief, I get attached easily and I hate it when people leave; people always leave (but sometimes they come back - Peyton, OTH lol, I'm a girly guy. I like TV series with good love story, and I love the songs and quotes from them too, haha!).

I'll probably try CouchSurfing in October when I'm in Thailand. I'd like to experience surfing, and sleeping in someone else's couch / bed just for experience. Hopefully, I'll make new friends along the way.