Before heading to Puerto Rico, I've decided to spend 5 days in New York but wanted to keep it on a low budget. I was a bit reluctant to try couchsurfing and do something risky like this. Let's face it - staying on a stranger couch with nice reviews but who's this person? Why do they do this and what do they want in exchange of giving free accomodation? Is this like a facilitated Tinder - "the cute girl is already sleeping on my couch and she should be grateful, let me try". Or could be a easy way for psychopaths/Catfish - not that impossible to make up a profile and pretend you're a nice person. I might have an easy imagination, but all those things were in my mind before I tried.
I've decided to give it a go, but I've taken some steps to help me feel more comfortable. Reached out to my network for opinions about the platform, learned how to approach and choose hosts, shared all the info with my friends, meet up in a public space. But I was still a little nervous, and yet excited about it.
What I thought was me leaving my comfort zone and being brave, became one of the richest experiences I've had. I was so so so so lucky with my first host - Shantanu, in Jersey City, for 5 full days.
What could have been "just another tick on big cities list that I've visited" with free accomodation, became a 5 days holidays with a friend. From minute one, we clicked, we laughed and we shared a million stories.
There's many personal ways to approach couchsurfing, everyone is different after all. But I was lucky to have a psychopath with a nice heart 😁 Shantanu not only opened his doors to me (even when he was working he let me stay there to sleep longer), but took me to his hobbies (Painting class, ping pong meet up) and joined me for mine (dancing, running, handstanding), introduced me to his friends and made new ones through me, shared his food and treated me on many different activities and meals out. We had long talks about life, on his rooftop, on his couch, at the train, everywhere in the city. We played board games and never got bored or run out of topics to talk about. We went dancing, running, we randomly danced Bollywood on the streets, and did handstands on the top of Brooklyn bridge. Watched Superbowl whilst bar hoping in the Upper East Side of New York and ate noodles at very late night cooked by Shantanu.
I tried to contribute and be grateful for everything he was doing for me, and tried to be a nice guest too. But the heart of a couchsurfing host like this is in the very right place - sharing without expecting anything back. The world needs more people like this. Kudos to all Shantanus out there 🤗 and thank you million times to my very own Shantanu for the best days I could ever have in New York.
I tried couchsurfing and I gained a friend. ♥️
